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SERMONS  OF 
REV.  R.G.  PEARSON 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

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NORTH  CAROLINA 

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flTHE    GREAT    EVANGELIST 


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■  Rev.  R.G.PEARSON, 


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DELIVERED    IN    CENTENARY    M.    E.    CHURCH, 

WINSTON,  N.  C. 


1§|  During  one  of  the  Greatest  Religious  Revivals  in  the  History  of North 

Carolina. 


September  16  to  October  4,  188S. 


REPORTED  AND  COMPILED  BY 


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INTRODUCTORY. 


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In  response  to  numerous  requests  from  those  who  heard  the  sermons 
of  Mr.  Pearson,  and  desire  to  preserve  them  in  a  compact  form,  a 
limited  edition  of  this  pamphlet  has  been  published. 

It  contains  all  the  sermons  reported  by  me  for  the  Twin  City  Daily, 
with  additions  to  several  of  them,  and  those  to  Business  Men  and  the 
Young  Men,  which  have  not  been  printed  in  any  form  heretofore. 

The  reader  will  understand  that  these  are  not  verbatim  reports,  but 
faithful,  extended  outlines,  and  are  essentially  correct  in  every  par- 
ticular. 

MAXWELL  GORMAN. 

Winston,  N.  C,  October,  iSSS. 


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THE  GREAT  EVANGELIST, 


His  Arrival   in  Winston — A  Sketch  of  his    Life,  and 
an  Outline  of  his  Opening  Sermons. 


Rev.  R.  G.  Pearson  arrived  in  Winston  Saturday,  Sept.  15th,  1SS8, 
and  on  Sunday  night,  Sept.  1 6th,  began  a  series  of  meetings  in  that 
handsome  and  commodious  House  of  God,  the  Centenary  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  which  continued  with  daily  increasing  interest  for 
nearly  three  weeks. 

Many  souls  were  converted,  and  thousands  of  professing  Christians 
had  their  faith  materially  strengthened  by  the  burning  words  of  this 
admirable  man  of  God. 

Mr.  Pearson  was  born  in  Starkville,  Mississippi,  and  is  therefore  a 
Southern  man  by  birth,  and  one  in  principle.  He  received  a  full  col- 
legiate education  at  the  Cooper  Institute,  of  Mississippi,  and  from  there 
he  went  to  the  Cumberland  University  at  Lebanon,  Tennessee,  where 
he  graduated  in  the  theological  department  in  1S76.  He  then  returned 
to  Mississippi,  and  as  his  first  pastorate  took  charge  of  the  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Tupelo,  in  that  State.  He  retained  the  pastor- 
ate of  this  Church  for  two  years,  and  during  that  time  erected  a  hand- 
some Church  edifice,  and  added  many  to  his  congregation. 

He  was  then  called  as  pastor  to  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Columbia,  Tenn.,  and  during  a  period  of  two  years  that  he 
remained  there  he  held  a  number  of  revivals,  at  which  many  were 
converted. 

Pie  was  called  to  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  of  Nashville, 
Tennessee,  as  assistant  pastor  to  the  Rev.  A.  J.  Baird,  with  the  under- 
standing that  one-half  of  his  time  should  be  devoted  to  evangelistic 
work.  After  one  year  of  harmonious  and  satisfactory  service  in  this 
capacity,  Mr.  Pearson  decided  to  devote  himself  to  evangelistic  work 
entirely,  and  for  the  past  six  years  has  devoted  himself  constantly  to 
that  work.  At  first  his  meetings  were  "denominational,"  but  his  labors 
were  so  blessed  that  he  received  repeated  invitations  from  churches  of 
all  denominations  to  hold   "union"  meetings,  which  induced  him  to 


2  THE    GREAT    EVANGELIST. 

conduct  "non-denominational"  meetings.  During  the  time  he  has 
been  engaged  in  this 'work  he  has  labored  in  the  following  States: — 
Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Colorado,  Texas, 
Mississippi  and  Alabama,  and  in  the  Cities  of  Nashville,  Evansville,  St. 
Louis,  Dallas,  Memphis  and  Vicksburg. 

In  1S78  Mr.  Pearson  married  Miss  Bowen  of  Oxford,  Mississippi, 
who  was  then  a  teacher  in  the  Union  Female  College,  from  which 
institution  she  had  previously  graduated.  •  Since  her  marriage  she  has 
been  a  faithful  and  efficient  helpmeet  to  Mr.  Pearson,  aiding  him  in  his 
great  work  in  a  quiet,  womanly,  but  effective  manner  that  has  gained 
her  the  love  and  admiration  of  all  who  know  her. 

His  manner  of  preaching  is  entirely  free  from  all  the  claptrap  and 
trickery  frequently  resorted  to  by  evangelists.  He  preaches  the  gospel 
in  a  plain  but  forcible  and  eloquent  style,  as  all  who  have  attended  his 
meetings  can  testify,  and  he  seems  to  imbue  his  hearers  with  a  portion 
of  his  own  great  earnestness  in  the  work  he  is  doing. 

Three  years  since  he  was  offered  the  pastorate  of  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  but  being  deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  conviction  that  he  was  called  of  God  to  do  the  work 
of  an  evangelist,  he  declined  the  offer. 

While  he  is  a  Cumberland  Presbyterian  himself,  and  believes  in 
maintaining  Church  organization,  he  feels  that  his  work  is  that  of  a 
"general  evangelist,"  and  he  wishes  those  who  may  be  converted 
through  his  instrumentality  to  join  any  Church  that  their  consciences 
dictate. 

During  the  past  twelve  months  Mr.  Pearson  has  held  meetings  at 
Statesville,  Salisbury,  Raleigh,  Newbern,  Wilmington  and  Asheville, 
all  of  which  have  resulted  in  great  good. 

The  noted  evangelist  (who,  by  the  way,  is  now  a  North  Carolinian, 
being  a  citizen  of  Asheville)  is  a  slender,  delicate-looking  man,  with  an 
effeminate  voice,  and  appears  to  be  about  thirty-seven  years  of  age. 
There  is  nothing  about  his  appearance  to  indicate  power  or  strength, 
but  intellectually  he  possesses  both  of  these  in  an  eminent  degree,  as 
an  audience  soon  perceives. 


HIS    FIRST    SERMON'S. 


HIS  FIRST  SERMONS. 


Over  two  thousand  people  were  packed  into  the  Church  and  Sunday 
School  annex  when  Mr.  Pearson  arose  to  preach  his  first  sermon. 

He  took  his  text  from  Gallations,  6th  chap,  and  7th  verse:  "Be  not 
deceived ;  God  is  not  mocked,  for  whatsoever  a  man  sovveth  that  shall 
he  also  reap." 

He  divided  his  subject  into  four  divisions,  and  by  illustrations  and 
terse  language  expounded  the  great  truths  of  His  word  in  a  most 
effective  way.  Mr.  Pearson  is  not  a  great  orator,  but  he  has  the  knack  of 
seizing  right  hold  of  an  audience  and  commanding  its  earnest  attention 
from  the  moment  he  begins  to  talk  until  the  last  syllable  is  uttered. 
He  proved  by  scriptural  quotations,  and  by  modern  illustrations,  that 
like  begets  like;  that  "whatsoever  a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  also 
reap." 

Mr.  Pearson  preached  on  Monday  night,  Sept.  17th,  to  another 
immense  congregation  of  people.  His  subject  was  "  Faith  and  Works," 
which  he  divided  into  three  propositions:  How  is  a  man  justified  in 
the  sight  of  God?  How  is  a  man  justified  in  the  sight  of  men?  The 
relation  between  faith  and  works. 

Mr.  Pearson  held  that  a  man  is  justified  in  the  sight  of  God  by  faith, 
and  by  faith  alone;  that  he  must  have  a  full  and  abiding  faith  in  God, 
through  our  Lord  and  Savior,  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  a  mere  assent  to 
the  correctness  of  the  scriptures  is  not  belief. 

Man  is  justified  in  the  sight  of  men  by  his  works.  An  alleged 
Christian  maybe  a  member  of  the  Church;  he  may  say  that  he  believes 
it  is  wrong  to  cheat  his  neighbor,  to  play  cards  for  money,  to  drink 
whiskey,  &c,  but  if  he  believes  this,  and  then  goes  to  work  and  cheats 
his  neighbor,  plays  cards  for  money,  and  drinks  whiskey,  he  is  not  a 
child  of  God.  He  must  practice  what  he  believes.  "By  their  works 
shall  ye  know  them." 

Faith  and  works  go  hand  in  hand.  A  man  who  has  the  right  kind 
of  faith  will  do  good  works;  and  the  man  who,  in  his  daily  lite,  "goes 
about  doing  good,"  is  apt  to  have  more  or  less  faith  in  him. 

Mr.  Pearson  handled  his  subject  in  a  masterly  manner,  and  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  services  many  accepted  the  invitation  to  pass  into  the 
enquiry  room. 

&  £  5fc  :£  :£  *  ^  +  3< 

Up  to  this  time  it  had  not  occurred  to  me  to  attempt  any  extended 


4  AN    OUTLINE   OF    Hid    SERMON'S. 

reports  in  our  daily  paper,  the  space  at  our  command  being  limited; 
but  the  interest  so  increased  that  I  concluded  to  devote  more  space  to 
our  notices  of  these  meetings.  However,  I  took  no  notes  until  the 
following  Monday  night,  and  the  first  four  sermons,  of  which  a  synop- 
sis is  given,  are  briefed  entirely  from  memory,  and  of  course  are  not 
perfect.  The  remaining  ones  are  reported  from  abbreviated  long-hand 
notes,  and  are  essentially  correct  in  every  particular. 


i 


THERE  MUST  BE  BLOOD. 


Rev.  R.  G.  Pearson  preached  again  Wednesday  night,  Sept.  19th,  to 
a  congregation  of  about  two  thousand  people.  He  took  his  text  from 
the  1  2th  chapter  of  Exodus:  "And  when  I  see  the  blood  I  will  pass 
over  you."  As  usual,  Mr.  Pearson  secured  the  earnest  attention  of 
his  audience  from  the  beginning  and  held  it  throughout  the  evening. 

There  were  three  facts  that  he  wanted  to  impress  upon  his  hearers : 
There  must  be  blood;  it  must  be  shed  blood  ;  it  must  be  applied  blood. 
Here  it  was  the  blood  of  the  paschal  lamb,  his  shed  blood,  that  was  to 
be  applied  to  the  door-post.  Just  why  it  should  be  applied  to  the  door 
post,  instead  of  on  the  wall,  or  on  the  roof,  is  none  of  our  business. 
God  said  apply  it  to  the  door  post,  and  that  is  sufficient. 

"There  is  one  thing,  and  one  thing  only,  that  will  cleanse  the  soul 
from  sin,  and  that  is  the  atoning  blood  of  our  Lord  and  Savior,  Jesus 
Christ. 

"A  man  who  has  lived  in  sin  may  reform,  he  may  turn  over  a  new 
leaf,  and  lead  in  the  future  a  strictly  moral  and  upright  life.  But  that 
does  not  wipe  out  the  transgressions  of  the  past. 

"  Here  is  a  man,  his  name  is  Smith.  He  has  been  buying  goods  for 
ten  years  from  Jones,  the  grocery  merchant,  and  he  has  been  behind 
in  his  accounts  all  along.  Well,  he  reforms,  and  resolves  to  pay  his 
debts  more  punctually  in  the  future.  He  goes  to  Jones  and  says : 
'Jones,  Eve  been  trading  with  you  a  long  time,  and  I  know  I  am  in 
debt  to  you;  but,  Jones,  Eve  resolved  to  hereafter  pay  cash  for  what  I 
get.'  What  will  Jones  say  ?  He  will  say  something  like  this:  'Well, 
Smith,  I  am  glad  to  hear  it,  and  I  hope  you'll  stick  to  it;  but,  Smith, 
how  about  the  money  you  already  owe  me?  How  about  the  groceries 
you  ate  up  ten  years  ago,  Smith  ?' 


THE    GREAT    EVANGELIST.  5 

"  If  Smith  is  a  truly  reformed  man  he  will  wipe  out  that  debt  as  soon 
as  he  is  able  to  do  so. 

"  And  every  reformed  sinner  has  a  debt  to  wipe  out,  and  there  is 
only  one  way  to  wipe  it  out. 

"You  may  be  earnest  and  sincere  about  your  intentions  for  the 
future;  you  may  join  a  Church  and  be  baptized,  either  by  sprinkling  or 
pouring  or  Immersion;  you  may  go  up  to  the  altar  and  partake  of  the 
sacrament — but  that  of  itself  is  not  going  to  carry  you  to  heaven. 

"  '  Ye  must  be  born  again.'  You  must  truly  and  earnestly  repent  of 
your  past  transgressions.  There  is  not  enough  water  in  the  Atlantic 
ocean  to  wash  away  your  sins.  It  must  be  blood!  It  must  be  shed 
blood  ;  it  must  be  applied  blood — the  atoning  blood  of  our  Lord  and 
Savior,  Jesus  Christ! 

"  Christ's  blood  was  shed  for  you.  Have  you  applied  it?  Where 
did  you  apply  it.  Ah,  dying  men,  some  of  you  have  that  blood  under 
your  feet  to-night,  and  you  are  stamping  upon  it!" 

Mr.  Pearson  preached  one  hour,  and  then  the  usual  enquiry  meeting 
was  held.  A  great  many  remained  to  talk  with  Mr.  Pearson  and  the 
pastors  present,  and  a  number  of  conversions  are  reported,  while  there 
is  hardly  a  Christian  who  has  heard  this  wonderfully  gifted  man  whose 
Christian  faith  has  not  been  materially  strengthened.  This  was  only 
his  fourth  sermon,  but  he  had  already  made  an  impress  upon  these 
towns  and  this  people  such  as  no  minister  who  has  preceded  him  ever 
succeeded  in  doing. 


WHAT  IS  YOUR  SOUL  WORTH,  DYING  MAN? 


Rev.  R.  G.  Pearson  preached  again  on  the  night  of  Sept.  20th,  to  an 
immense  congregation  of  people.  His  subject  was,  "  What  shall  it 
profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul." 

As  is  his  habit,  Mr.  Pearson  divided  his  subject  under  different 
heads,  and  then  dissected  it  in  a  clear  and  masterly  manner.  His 
power  of  analysis  is  his  strongest  point. 

"  What  is  your  soul  worth  ?  A  man  comes  to  you  and  asks  :  What 
will  you  take  for  one  of  your  eyes?  Will  you  sell  it?  No,  it  is  not 
in  the  market.  What  will  you  take  for  your  right  arm?  Why,  you 
will  not  sell  it  at  any  price. 


6  THE    GREAT    EVANGELIST. 

"  Well,  if  your  poor  mortal  body,  which  in  a  few  years  will  be  eaten 
by  the  worms  and  return  to  its  native  dust — if  this  mortal  part  of  you 
is  so  valuable  how  much  more  priceless  ought  your  immortal  soul  to 
be.  It  is  indeed  valuable.  It  is  worth  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  who 
so  freely  shed  it  for  your  soul's  salvation.  It  is  worth  the  life  of  Christ 
who  died  to  save  you/ 

"  And  yet  there  are  men  within  the  sound  of  my  voice  who  are  bart- 
ering away  their  souls  to  the  devil  in  yonder  grog  shop,  in  that  gamb- 
ling hell,  and  in  all  these  dens  of  iniquity  !  Selling  your  immortal  soul 
to  the  devil  for  a  mess  of  pottage,  when  you  will  not  barter  your  right 
arm  at  any  price. 

"  Can  you  lose  your  soul  ?  You  can  !  Skeptics  say  differently. 
But  we  are  not  here  to  discuss  the  views  of  skeptics.  God  says  you 
can  lose  it,  and  what  God  says  is  so  !  The  Bible  does  not  lie.  Indeed 
your  soul  is  already  lost,  unless  you  repent  and  are  forgiven.  Man  is 
born  with  the  elements  of  sin  in  him.  That  is  why  it  is  so  hard  to  do 
right  in  all  respects. 

"Ye  are  condemned  already.  You  may  have  been  a  very  moral  man 
all  your  life.  You  may  never  have  done  anything  very  wrong,  and  yet 
if  you  are  living  to-night  without  having  accepted  Jesus  as  your 
Savior,  without  a  true  and  abiding  belief  in  the  Bible,  you  are  travel- 
ing the  road  that  leads  to  hell,  and  nowhere  else. 

"  You  haven't  got  to  do  anything  to  get  into  hell.  You  are  con- 
demned already,  and  you  will  get  there  without  any  additional  efforts 
on  your  part,  unless  you  accept  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  and  accept 
Christ  as  your  Savior. 

"The  only  difference  between  you  and  the  man  who  died  in  his  sins 
is  this:  Both  of  you  are  condemned.  Judgment  has  been  executed  on 
the  dead  man,  and  he  is  beyond  redemption,  while  you  stand  a  chance 
of  being  pardoned.     And  it  all  rests  with  you. 

"  How  can  we  lose  our  soul?  Well,  in  an  infinite  variety  of  ways, 
and  one  of  the  most  common  is  by  neglect. 

"  My  friends,  Winston  is  one  of  the  most  moral,  temperate  communi- 
ties I  ever  visited.  But  let  me  say  to  you  :  The  business  men  of  this 
town  are  going  to  hell  wrapped  in  the  shroud  of  their  business  !  They 
are  thinking  more  about  their  business  than  they  are  thinking  about 
their  souls.  God  grant  that  they  may  give  more  serious  thought  to 
their  eternal  welfare ! 

"What  is  it  that  is  lost?"  Under  this  head  Mr.  Pearson  depicted 
the  delights  of  heaven  and  the  torments  of  the  damned. 


I 


AN    OUTLINE    OF    HIS   SERMONS.  7 

"Suppose  you  die  an  unforgiven  sinner,  and  you  look  up  out  of  hell 
and  are  given  a  view  of  heaven.  And  there  in  that  Elysium  you  see 
your  sainted  mother — she  who  taught  you  how  to  pray,  '  Now  I  lay  me 
down  to  sleep,  I  pray  the  Lord  my  soul  to  keep' — and  then  the  vision 
vanishes  and  you  are  condemned  to  the  torments  of  hell  forever  and 
forever,  world  without  end.  Never  to  see  that  mother's  face  again, 
never  to  hear  her  voice  throughout  all  the  ages  of  eternity.  Oh,  dying 
man,  are  you  going  to  stand  condemned  to  such  a  fate  as  that  by  your 
own  obstinate,  sinful  refusal  to  ask  God's  forgiveness?" 

Mr.  Pearson  concluded  his  sermon  by  asking  and  answering  the 
question:  "  Can  souls  be  saved  here  to-night?" 

"  Now  is  the  accepted  time.  Seek  Him  while  He  maybe  found; 
call  ye  upon  Him  while  He  is  near." 


THIS  MAN  RECEIVETH  SINNERS. 


Another  immense  throng  of  people  greeted  the  appearance  of  Rev. 
R.  G.  Pearson  at  Centenary  M.  E.  Church  Friday  night,  Sept.  21st. 
His  text  was  taken  from  Luke  15th  chapter  and  2ndvarse:  "This 
man  receiveth  sinners." 

Mr.  Pearson  divided  his  subject  under  three  heads,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  analyze  it  in  his  usual  clear  and  forcible  manner. 

"What  kind  of  sinners  will  Christ  not  receive ?  The  unwilling. 
Christ  will  not  receive  any  man  who  comes  to  Him  unwillingly.  Nor 
will  He  receive  an  unbeliever.  You  must  accept  Christ  as  your 
Savior,  and  implicitly  believe  in  the  teachings  of  the  Bible.  And  you 
must  be  willing  to  foasake  all  your  sins.  You  cannot  renounce  a  por- 
tion of  them  and  retain  one  or  more  of  your  pet  sins.  Those  pet  sins 
are  the  very  ones  you  will  be  required  to  give  up,  and  unless  you 
make  up  your  mind  to  that  effect  it  is  useless  to  ask  forgiveness  of  God. 

"Unbelief  is  at  the  bottom  of  all  sin.  What  is  murder?  Oh,  you 
say,  that  is  a  terrible  crime.  What  is  seduction  ;  what  is  theft ;  what  is 
arson  ?  Oh,  you  say,  those  are  terrible  sins.  Well,  my  friends,  un- 
belief is  a  greater  sin  than  either,  and  is  at  the  bottom  of  them  all. 

"  There  is  a  tree  out  there.  A  man  comes  along  with  an  axe  and 
cuts  it  down.  After  a  while  little  branches  will  spring  up  around  the 
remaining  stump  of  the  tree,  until  the  stump  is  hidden  from  view. 
You  see  those  branches,  they  are  conspicuous,  but  you  do  not  see  the 


8  AN    OUTLINE    OF    HIS    SERMONS. 

old  stump.  How  came  those  branches  there  ?  Because  down  under 
that  stump  is  a  root  that  still  lives,  and  these  little  trees  or  branches 
are  the  upshoots  of  it,  the  outcroppings  of  that  stump's  life. 

"  Those  branches  represent  the  sins  I  have  named,  and  the  other 
minor  sins,  and  that  old  stump  and  its  living  root  represent  the  unbe- 
lief that  has  taken  hold  of  a  man's  soul  and  causes  him  to  commit  the 
crimes  represented  by  the  offshoots. 

"Unbelief  is  giving  the  lie  to  God.  What  greater  insult  could  be 
offered  Him? 

"  What  kind  of  sinners  does  Christ  receive  ?  The  truly  penitent. 
You  have  sinned.  Go  to  God  and  acknowledge  it.  Tell  Him  that  you 
truly  and  earnestly  repent.  Throw  yourself  on  His  mercy.  Don't  go 
to  arguing  with  God  about  '  your  rights  ;'  don't  imitate  the  Pharisee 
and  thank  God  that  you  are  not  like  other  men.  But  pray  the  prayer 
of  the  Publican,  '  God  be  merciful  to  me,  a  sinner?  Then  make  up 
your  mind  to  renounce  all  y owe  sins. 

"If  you  will  do  this,  God  will  bless  you.  My  word  for  it,  God's 
word  for  it,  He  will  save  you  this  night  if  you  come  to  Him  with  your 
heart  filled  with  emotions  like  these. 

"  How  does  Christ  receive  sinners  ?  Through  faith,  and  through 
faith  alone.  Here  is  a  man ;  he  tumbles  over  a  precipice,  and  when 
about  half  way  down  he  catches  onto  a  grape  vine  and  arrests  his 
descent.  There  he  hangs,  suspended  in  mid  air.  He  cannot  go  up 
again,  and  his  grip  on  the  grape  vine  is  not  going  to  last  long. 

"Along  comes  the  angel,  Gabriel.  Says  Gabriel:  '  Do  you  believe 
I  am  Gabriel  ?'  '  Yes.'  '  Do  you  believe  I  can  save  you  now?'  '  Yes.' 
'Well,  turn  loose  that  grape  vine!' 

"  Now  if  that  man  really  believes  in  Gabriel,  he  will  turn  loose  that 
grape  vine  ;  and  if  he  doesn't  turn  it  loose,  it  is  a  self-evident  fact  that 
he  does  not  believe  what  he  says. 

"The  trouble  with  many  of  you  to-night  is,  you  are  afraid  to  let  go 
of  that  grape  vine.  '  Well,  you've  got  to  do  it,  If  you  want  to  be  saved." 

Mr.  Pearson  drew  a  remarkably  clear  and  beautiful  picture  of  true 
penitence.  He  also  took  occasion  to  compliment  the  choir  and  the 
congregation.  He  said  that,  in  all  his  experience,  he  had  never  seen 
a  people  who  were  more  prompt  in  coming  to  church  o?i  time,  and  in 
preserving  order  and  decorum  after  they  got  there. 

No  preaching  Saturday,  that  being  the  evangelist's  day  of  rest. 


AN    OUTLINE   OF    HfS    SERMONS. 


BELIEVE  ON  THE  LORD. 


On  Sunday  night,  September  23,  (Mr.  Pearson  did  not  preach  in  the 
morning  at  any  church)  another  vast  throng  of  people  filled  the  church 
and  annex  to  hear  Mr.  Pearson.  They  began  to  file  into  the  church 
doors  before  6  o'clock,  and  by  6:45  o'clock  every  seat  was  occupied  and 
many  were  turned  away.  The  preliminary  services  did  not  begin  untiL 
7:30,  but  the  immense  congregation  patiently  waited  until  that  hour. 

At  8  o'clock  Mr.  Pearson  made  his  appearance,  and  after  a  short,, 
earnest  prayer,  took  his  text  from  Acts,  1 6th  chapter  and  31st  verse  r 
"  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 

As  will  be  seen  from  the  text,  his  subject  was  Faith. 

"  What  is  faith  ?  What  is  the  object  of  faith  ?  What  is  the  unport- 
ance  of  faith  ?  What  is  the  philosophy  of  faith  ?  What  is  the  utility  of 
faith  ? 

"  Faith  is  confidence  in  God.  Faith  is  the  means  of  salvation,  and 
the  only  means  of  salvation.  Faith  is  everything  with  the  Christian. 
You  see  those  posts  there  which  support  that  gallery.  Well,  those 
posts  must  have  a  foundation  upon  which  to  rest,  else  they  could  not 
support  the  gallery.  God  is  the  Rock  of  Ages,  the  foundation  upon 
which  rests  the  posts  of  our  faith,  which  support  our  Christian  hope. 

"The  object  of  faith  is  to  save  sinners,  and  unless  a  penitent  have 
faith  he  cannot  find  peace.  The  importance  of  faith,  then,  is  inestimable 
to  all  who  would  be  saved.  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance ;  it  is  of 
more  importance  to  you  than  everything  else  in  this  world  combined. 

"  Faith  is  the  connecting  link  between  a  sinner  and  his  salvation. 
Let  me  give  you  a  practical  illustration  :  You  go  clown  to  the  depot. 
There  stands  an  engine  and  a  long  line  of  cars.  What  is  that  engine 
there  for  ?  It  is  there  to  take  those  cars  to  their  destination.  Well, 
how  is  it  going  to  do  it?  Why,  there  is  only  one  way  :  The  engine 
backs  up  to  those  cars  and  a  man  couples  them  together,  and  off  both 
engine  and  cars  go.  Now  that  engine  never  could  have  pulled  those 
cars  had  there  not  been  a  connection  between  them,  could  it?  Just  so 
with  us.  Christ,  the  all-saving  locomotive,  stands  ready  to  carry  us  to 
heaven,  if  we  will  only  link  ourselves  to  Him,  and  Faith  is  the  only 
connecting  link.     Faith  is  the  most  philosophic  thing  in  the  world. 

"'Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved.' 

"What  is  the  utility  of  faith?  Why  it  is  the  very  foundation  of  busi- 
ness in  every  day  life,  and  I  can  prove  it.     I  will  give  you  an  illustra- 


IO  THE    GREAT    EVANGELIST. 

tion.  I'll  take  a  tobacco  example;  you  go  it  pretty  heavy  on  tobacco 
in  Winston.  Suppose  I  go  to  one  of  your  factories  and  I  say  to  the 
proprietor :  '  I  want  a  certain  number  of  boxes  of  tobacco.'  '  All  right, 
Mr.  Pearson,'  and  he  has  the  order  filled.  I  go  down  in  my  pocket  and 
hand  him  a  $500  U.  S.  treasury  note.  What  is  that  piece  of  paper 
worth?  It  is  worth  $500.  Why?  Because  the  U.  S.  government 
pledges  its  faith  to  redeem  it  on  demand.  The  manufacturer  accepts 
the  bill,  of  course,  and  is  glad  to  exchange  his  tobacco  for  that  note. 
He  is  so  well  pleased  that  he  wants  to  know  if  he  cannot  sell  me  some 
more  tobacco. 

"'Well,'  says  I,  'yes;  you  can  duplicate  the  order.'  When  he  has 
done  so  I  go  down  in  my  pocket  again  and  hand  him  a  $500  Confed- 
erate bill. 

"'Oh/  he  says,  '  I  cannot  accept  that  paper,  Mr.  Pearson.'  I  insist 
on  his  taking  it,  but  all  my  arguments  will  not  induce  him  to  accept  it. 
Why  ?  Because  he  has  no  faith  in  the  ability  of  the  defunct  Confed- 
eracy to  redeem  its  promise  to  pay. 

"Another  illustration:  Down  there  is  a  bank.  You  are  a  business 
man,  and  every  day,  or  once  a  week,  you  take  your  money  to  that 
banker  and  deposit  it  with  him  for  safe  keeping.  Why?  Because 
you  have  faith  in  that  institution  and  in  that  officer  of  the  bank,  and 
for  no  other  reason  in  the  world.  If  you  believed  that  bank  was 
'shaky'  or  that  that  official  was  dishonest,  you  would  not  deposit  your 
money  there. 

"  Well,  if  you  can  trust  all  your  worldly  wealth  with  another  man, 
can  you  not  trust  your  soul  with  Christ  ? 

"Have  faith  in  God,  give  your  soul  into  His  keeping;  '  believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  sluilt  be  saved  !' 

"Faith,  in  our  daily  life,  goes  even  farther:  It  is  the  basis  of  the 
happiness  of  the  home  circle.  Let  a  man  lose  coufidence  in  his  wife ; 
let  him  lose  faith  in  her  chastity,  and  there  is  no  power  on  earth  or  in 
heaven  that  can  restore  happiness  to  that  home. 

"On  the  other  hand,  let  a  wife  have  confidence  in  her  husband;  let 
her  have  implicit  faith  in  him,  as  her  husband,  and  no  man  nor  any 
thing  can  destroy  or  shake  that  belief. 

"  You  may  accuse  him ;  you  may  prosecute  him  ;  you  may  persecute 
him ;  you  may  hang  him  by  the  neck  until  he  is  dead,  and  she  will 
clasp  his  lifeless  body  in  her  arms,  declaring  her  belief  in  him  still. 

"  Then,  have  faith  in  God.  Believe  what  this  blessed  Book  tells  you, 
'  and  thou  shalt  be  saved.' 


I 


BfAKING    EXCUSES  I  I 

"Talk  about  a  man  who  relies  on  his  faith  'going-  it  blind'!  Could 
you  devise  a  more  practical  way  of  getting  to  heaven?  Suppose  it 
were  made  a  monetary  consideration.  Well,  Jay  Gould,  Russell  Sage, 
and  the  other  millionaires  might  get  into  heaven  on  those  terms,  but 
what  would  become  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people  ? 

Suppose  it  was  made  a  question  of  physical  strength.  What  would 
become  of  the  weak?  Suppose  it  was  made  an  intellectual  qualifica- 
tion. What  would  become  of  the  great  mass  of  comparatively  ignor- 
ant people  ?  Under  any  other  condition  than  by  faith,  a  large  portion 
of  the  human  race  could  entertain  no  hope  of  heaven.  But,  thank 
God,  by  faith  every  man  can  be  saved,  no  person,  need  despair  of 
ultimately  reaching  Paradise. 

"  No,  sir ;  it  is  not  '  going  it  blind '  when  you  rely  on  faith.  I  know 
there  is  a  God ;  I  know  my  Redeemer  liveth ;  I  kncnv  I  have  a  home  in 
heaven,  and  I  know  I  will  some  day  be  with  Jesus  and  numbered  with. 
His  saints  above  1" 


MAKING  EXCUSES. 


Mr.  Pearson  preached  Monday  night,  Sept.  24th,  from  the  text : 
"And  they  all  with  one  consent  began  to  make  excuse." — Luke  14:18. 

"  The  majority  of  sinners  have  some  excuse  for  not  being  a  Christian. 
Now  I  propose  to  take  up  a  few  of  these  and  consider  them,  with  a 
view  to  showing  you  how  untenable  they  are,  and  then  leave  the 
responsibility  with  you. 

"Well,  here  is  a  man  who  says  he  is  not  a  Christian  because  he  does 
not  believe  in  the  Bible.  I  am  not  here  to  defend  God's  word  or  God's 
gospel — they  need  no  defence,  and  it  doesn't  affect  the  Bible  one  iota 
whether  you  believe  it  or  not;  but  it  affects  you,  and  it  affects  you  very 
seriously. 

"There  is  a  furnace  with  a  red-hot  fire  in  it.  You  may  pretend  to 
believe  that  it  will  not  burn.  Well,  your  belief  does  not  affect  that 
fire  at  all.  It  will  burn  all  the  same,  and  if  you  don't  believe  it,  just 
put  your  hand  in  it  and  see. 

"  Disbelief  in  a  thing  does  not  prevent  that  thing  from  accomplishing 
its  purpose,  and  you  will  be  damned  despite  your  alleged  disbelief  in 
the  Bible.     Why  don't  you  believe  in  the  Bible  ?     Is  it  because  you 

//if   /y>-  fi~i*  A**&'$*~f  U/*ft<*    >  Jo^'-Ax  " 


-  •rA^<J-t-*-l*'!^(zc^-±^i  *•■      S? cryy  vest 


5&^*H>»*TJ'?RW- 


12  THE    GREAT    EVANGELIST. 

have   not   given  it  a  practical  test,  or  because  you  do  not  comprehend 
it  all  ? 

"No,  sir!  You  have  no  such  reason.  Your  real  '  reason  '  is  that 
you  love  one  or  more  of  your  sins  better  than  you  love  your  God. 
Well,  let  me  tell  you  that  you  will  be  judged  by  the  Bible  whether  you 
believe  in  it  or  not,  and  if  you  continue  in  your  unbelief  you  will  be 
eternally  damned! 

r-N  "  Well,  here  is  another  man,  and  he  says  he  would  be  a  Christian, 

-i~»^  but  he  doesn't  understand  the  Bible,  he  doesn't  understand  Christianity, 

^\j^  and  to  accept  what  he  does   not'  understand  would  be  stultifying  his 

£i  intellect.     Uo  you  do  that  way  about  everything?     You  ate  your  din- 

2  »  ner  yesterday,  didn't  you  ?     What  did  you  eat  ?     '  Oh,'  you  say,  '  I  ate 

C-  a  variety  of  things — meats,  vegetables,  &c.'     Very  well.     Now,  do  you 

c.  know  how  some  of  that  food  makes  brains,  and  some  bone,  and  some 

\  ■  muscle,  and  some  blood?     '  No,'  you  say,   'I  do  not.'     Well,  you  did 

-£;.  not  refuse  to  eat  on  that  account,  did  you  ?     You  will  not  refuse  to  eat 

i-  hereafter  because  you  don't  understand  whether  or  how  this   or  that 

js^  article  of   food  is  going  to  make   brains,  or  blood,  or  bone,  or  muscle, 

JJ"»  will  you?     If  you  do  you  will  soon  starve. 

j\"^_     "There  is  a  lawn  out  there,  and  when  cattle  eat  that  grass  it  makes 
-■$?  s£,    .  .  . 

,  Vi  chair,  but  vou  don't  know  how  it  makes  hair.     And  is  that  any  argu- 

--- ,'~-  j-  ment  against  eating  beefsteak?     A  sheep  eats  it  and  it   makes  wool. 

''    r-r     Is   that  am-  argument  against  eatin°- mutton  ?     A  goose  eats  it  and  it 

makes  feathers.     Is   that  any  argument  against  sleeping  on  a   feather 

bed  ?     Certainly  not. 

"Because  you  do  not  understand  all  of  the  Bible,  are  you  going  to 

reject  the  whole?     There   are  many  things  in  the  Bible  that  I  do  not 

understand.     It   is   impossible  for  the  finite  mind   to  grasp  it  all,  and 

God  did  not  intend  that  we  should  understand  it  all.     But  the  things 

which  are  essential  to  our  salvation  are  as  simple  as  can  be,  and  are  as 

|J5       plain  as  the  noon-day  sun. 

""  -it?     Another  man  says  it  is  very  difficult  to  be  a  Christian,  and  that  is 

:  \    f    why  he  is  not  one.     Well,  do  you  reject  all  difficult  things?     Here  is 

7~tV  Jones,  and   he  has  a  large  family.     It  is  mighty  hard   for  him  to  sup- 

£  >   port  them  comfortably,  but  by  industry  and  perseverance  he  manages 

^~--'    to  do  it.     He  doesn't  turn   his  wife  out  into  the  street  and  send  his 

'  ~f*^  children  to  the   poor-house,  because  it  is  difficult  to  make  a  living  for 

"    ^-^"them.     He  surmounts  the  difficulty  and  supports  his  family,  even  if 

-"""*!  r  he  does  have  to  struggle   to  do   it.     But  it  is   not  difficult  to   be  a 
o    *  * 

Christian,  if  you  go  about  it  right.     Where  did  you  get  that  idea  from  ? 

J  '  My  yoke  is  easyjind  my  burden  is  light.'  ,-  / 

i   ■     /v.-  ■>  !  (  s  j!  '  '  a/  '  -'- —*>*&  k  o 


MAKING    EXCUSES.  I  3 

"The  trouble  is  that  so  many  professing  Christians  try  to  go  to 
heaven  with  the  Bible  under  one  arm  and  a  barrel  of  whiskey  under 
the  other — with  a  prayer-book  in  one  hand  and  a  pack  of  cards  in  the 
other  hand  :  the  men  who  drink  sacrimental  wine  on  Sunday  and 
whiskey  the  balance  of  the  week. 

"Well,  here  is  another  man  and  he  says:  'I'd  be  a  Christian,  but 
there  are  so  many  hypocrites  in  the  church.'  Yes,  there  are  hypocrites 
in  the  church,  and  there  always  will  be.  Christ  said  there  would 
always  be  hypocrites  in  the  church.  But  are  you  going  to  reject 
Christ  and  salvation  because  some  professing  Christians  are  hypocrites? 
You  hold  my  note  for  $ioo,  and  I  hand  you  ten  $10  bills  to  cancel 
that  note.  One  of  those  $10  bills  turns  out  to  be  a  counterfeit.  Would 
you  tear  up  the  other  nine  because  the  tenth  one  was  a  counterfeit,  and 
declare  that  you  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  money  in  the  future  ? 
Of  course  not.  Well,  where  is  your  consistency  then  ?  Because  the 
devil  has  got  some  counterfeit  Christians  in  the  church  are  you  going 
to  reject  Christianity  altogether? 

"  You  don't  want  to  be  associated  with  the  hypocrites,  eh  ?  If  all 
the  hypocrites  and  the  devil  himself  join  the  church  I  am  going  to 
stay  there.  The  hypocrites  will  go  to  hell,  and  I  will  not.  But  if  you 
reject  Christ  you  wrill  go  to  hell  too,  and  be  associated  with  hypocrites 
through  all  the  ages  of  eternity.  I  prefer  to  be  associated  with  them  a 
little  while  in  this  world.  This  'excuse'  is  only  a  trick  the  devil  is 
playing  on  you,  and  you  don't  know  it.  It  reminds  me  of  the  way 
they  kill  wild  geese  out  West.  The  hunter  makes  a  decoy  goose  and 
puts  it  in  the  field,  and  then  he  digs  himself  a  pit  near  the  decoy  goose 
and  gets  into  it,  with  a  loaded  gun.  The  real  geese  come  flying  over, 
and  they  see  that  decoy  goose,  and  it  looks  like  a  good  place  to  feed, 
and  the  one  down  there  seems  to  be  a  real  goose,  and  they  alight  there 
too.  And  then  the  hunter  pulls  the  trigger  and  they  are  dead  geese. 
Just  so.  While  you  stand  off  regarding  the  decoy-goose  church 
member,  this  counterfeit  Christian,  who  is  generally  a  prominent  Sunday 
School  worker,  the  devil  comes  along  and  gets  you — you  are  his  game 

"  Here  is  another  man,  and  he  says  he'd  be  a  Christian,  but  there  are 
too  many  churches,  all  claiming  to  be  right  A  specious  but  fallaci- 
ous argument.  There  are  a  number  of  churches,  and  they  differ 
about  minor  matters,  and  in  their  forms  of  church  government.  But 
they  all  agree  upon  the  governing  principle  of  the  church  of  Christ. 
They  all  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Savior  of  the  world— 

"~~      **  .    ■'  ^  ...  .  —  ,_  ■*_, .._. ■ 


14  THE    GREAT    EVANGELIST. 

Methodists,  Presbyterians,  Baptists,  Episcopalians,  Moravians,  and 
Catholics.     And  you  must  believe  in  Christ  or  be  .damned. 

"  But  the  unconverted  man  is  not  looking  for  any  particular  church ; 
he  is  seeking  salvation.  Don't  look  to  any  particular  church — look  to 
the  one  great  Mediator. 

'"  Here  is  an  hotel,  five  stories  high.  It  catches  afire,  and  a  man  in 
:he  top  stories  rushes  upon  the  roof.  There  are  several  hook  and 
ladder  companies  there — some  with  red,  and  some  with  blue,  and  some 
with  black  ladders.  .That  man  wants  to  get  off  that  roof,  and  he  has 
got  to  be  in  a  hurry  about  it,  too.  Does  he  stop  to  ask  which  is  the 
best  ladder  company?  No,  sir;  he  don't  want  to  know  anything  about 
the  company,  he  wants  a  ladder,  and  he  doesn't  stop  to  see  whether  it 
is  a  red  one,  or  a  blue  one,  or  a  black  one,  either.  So  with  you  to- 
night, You  are  not  after  any  particular  denominaton,  it  is  Christ  and 
Christ's  love  that  you  want 

"Well,  another  man  says,  'Well,  the  Lord  knows  whether  I  am 
going  to  be  saved  or  not.  He  knows  my  destiny,  and  I  have  nothing 
to  do  with  it.'  That  is  a  metaphysical  question  gotten  up  by  the  devil- 
Let  me  illustrate:  Here  is  a  man  who  has  a  good  farm,  a  half  dozen 
good  mules,  plenty  of  farming  implements,  and  four  or  five  able-bodied 
sons.  He  comes  to  me  and  asks  me  to  give  him  some  corn.  Why 
haven't  you  got  corn?  I  ask  hirn.  '  No,'  says  he;  'you  see  the  Lord 
knew  just  how  much  corn  I  was  going  to  raise  anyhow,  and  it  was  no 
use  for  me  to  bother  about  it.  So  I  just  laid  down  my  plow,  turned 
out  the  mules,  and  sent  the  boys  a-fishing.  And  I  didn't  raise  a  bit  of 
com.'  Of  course  he  didn't;  but  if  he  and  his  boys  and  his  mules  had 
worked  the  good  farm  God  gave  him  during  the  good  seasons  God  sent 
he  would  have  had  plenty  of  corn. 

"Yes,  God  knows  whether  you  are  going  to  be  saved  or  not.  But 
you  are  a  free  moral  agent.  Here  are  the  means  of  salvation  which 
He  offers  you,  and  offers  you  freely,  without  money  and  without  price. 
Now,  it  is  for  you  to  say  whether  you  will  be  saved  or  not. 

"Are  you  afraid  of  ridicule?  Is  that  fear  keeping  you  away  from 
Christ  ?  Well,  didn't  they  ridicule  Christ?  If  a  man  ridicules  you  for 
telling  the  truth,  are  you  going  to  turn  liar  on  that  account  ?  If  one 
ridicules  your  honesty  will  you  become  a  thief  for  that  reason  ? 

"Well,  here's  a  man  who  says  that  it  will  interfere  with  his  business 
to  be  a  true  Christian.  If  your  business  is  in  accord  with  the  Ten 
Commandments,  religion  is  not  going  to  interfere  with  it. 

"But  if  you.  are  selling  whiskey;  if  you  are  practicing  extortion,  and 

J  >    Z)  Z~"y*  '  *,'  ,.'•■■  <-<  >_  '       U        ''      ';• -;-1    !■■'•       --•      .:.-^-'-'^"~ 


I 

i 
j 

i 


>  v  '    i  ■    ■      i      •      ■*■ 

//  •  •      _     \  tnri  •  f    ■>  '----<■-•  '    •  • 

■'  /  —  '    '.*'  •_■■. 

fi     ■     '  '       ,  -MAKING    EXCUSES.    '  15 

making  the  poor  pay  you  an  usurious  interest;  if  you  are  renting  your 
houses  out  to  liquor  sellers  and  prostitutes,  then  religion  rvill  interfere 
with  your  'business,'  and  the  sooner  it  interferes  with  it  the  better. 
'  For  what  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his 
own  soul  ?' 

"  And,  lastly,  here  comes  a  man  who  says,  '  Oh,  I  am  going  to  wait 
until  I  am  dying;  then  I'll  get  religion.'  I  have  no  patience  and  little 
faith  in  death-bed  repentance.  It  is  an  exceedingly  hazardous  and 
improbable  thing.  Medical  authority  tells  us  that  fully  two-thirds  of 
the  people  who  die,  die  in  an  unconscious  state,  and  there  is  only  one 
case  of  death-bed  repentance  on  record  in  Biblical  history. 

"Oh,  be  what  you  are  from  principle!  Don't  serve  the  devil  all  your 
life,  and  on  your  death-bed  ask  God  to  accept  your  miserable  worm- 
eaten  soul  when  you  can  serve  the  devil  no  longer.  I  wouldn't  dart' 
to  make  the  offer,  for  the  chances  are  God  would  not  accept  it. 

"  Lay  your  hand  on  your  heart  and  ask  yourself  the  question  :  '  Does 
my  'excuse'  satisfy  my  conscience  and  my  intellect?'  If  not,  stay 
here  to  the  enquiry  meeting  to-night.  Setde  this  question  to-night  for 
all  time.     Turn  your  face  heavenward  and  be  eternally  saved!" 


COMING  TO  CHRIST. 


Centenary  M.  E.  Church  was  filled  with  people  again  Tuesday  night, 
September  25th.  Mr.  Pearson  took  his  text  from  John  6:37 — "Him 
that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out." 

"  What  a  blessed,  tender  word.  '  Come.'  One  of  the  sweetest  words 
in  the  vocabulary.  Come  unto  Me,  all  that  are  heavy  laden  and  I  will 
give  thee  rest     Come,  and  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely. 

"  We  must  not  only  want  to  come.  We  must  not  only  expect  to 
come.     But  we  must  come  ! 

"  I  want  to  talk  to  the  unsaved  to-night,  and  to  the  penitent  ones 
especially.  And  I  am  going  to  ask  seven  questions,  and  then  let  the 
Bible  answer  them: 

1 .  May  I  come  to  Jesus  ? 

2.  Why  should  I  come  to  Jesus  ? 

3.  When  should  I  come  to  Jesus  ? 

4.  How  should  I  come  to  Jesus  ? 


5 


1 6  THE   GREAT   EVANGELIST. 

5.  Why  have  I  not  come  to  Jesus? 

6.  What  if  I  never  do  come  to  Jesus  ? 

7.  What  if  I  do  come  to  Jesus? 

"  First,  then  :  May  I  come  to  Jesus?  May  /,  a  sinner;  may  I,  a  liar; 
may  /,  a  drunkard;  may  I,  a  profaner  of  God's  name;  may  /,  steeped 
in  iniquity  as  lam — may /come  to  Jesus?  Yes,  there  are  none  so 
low  and  degraded  whom  Christ  will  not  save,  if  He  is  approached  in  the 
right  way. 

"  Ho  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters,  and  he  that  hath 
no  money;  come  ye,  buy  and  eat,  yea,  come,  buy  wine  and  milk  with- 
out money  and  without  price." — Isaiah  50:1. 

"Jesus  stood  and  cried,  saying,  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto 
me  and  drink." — John  J:^J. 

"  And  the  spirit  and  the  bride  say,  come.  And  let  him  that  heareth 
say,  come.  And  'let  him  that  is  athirst  come.  And  whosoever  will 
let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely." — Revelations  22:17. 

"  Here  we  have  God,  the  Father,  saying,  Come !  God,  the  Son, 
saying,  Come!  God,  the  Holy  Spirit,  saying,  Come!  '  Ho,  every  one 
that  thirsteth,  come!' 

"Are  you  a  human  being?  Then  God  says,  come.  Are  you  a 
man?  Christ  says,  Let  every  man  come.  The  Holy  Spirit  says, 
Whosoever  may,  let  him  come. 

"  No  matter  how  fallen  you  are.  No  matter  how  infamous  your  past 
life  may  have  been,  Christ  stands  ready  to  save  you.  And  if  you  do 
not  get  to  heaven  it  will  not  be  because  you  could  not,  but  because  you 
would  not. 

"  Second.  Why  should  I  come  to  Jesus  ?  Why  not  go  to  science,  or 
to  Mohammed,  or  to  Ingersoll  ?  Why?  What  does  the  Bible  say  in 
this  connection  ?  '  I  am  the  way.'  '  I  am  the  way,  the  truth  and  the 
life;  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me.' — John  14:6. 

"'No  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  Me!'  Then  you  must 
come  to  Jesus  because  you  cannot  reach  God  and  heaven  in  any  other 
way.  He  is  the  only  medium  to  heaven.  Isn't  that  a  good  reason 
why  you  should  come  to  Christ  ?  You  can't  love  God,  you  cannot 
serve  God,  except  through  Christ.  And  unless  you  love  God  and 
serve  Him  you  cannot  be  saved.  '  Neither  is  there  salvation  in  any 
other ;  for  there  is  none  other  name  under  heaven  given  among  men 
whereby  we  must  be  saved.' — Acts  4: 1 2. 

"  Christ  is  not  only  the  way  to  God  and  to  salvation,  but  He  is  the 
only  way.     Through  Him  alone  can  you  obtain  eternal  life.     There  is 


COMING   TO   CHRIST.  1 7 

a  Christ  for  even-  sinner  out  of  hell,  and  there  is  a  hell  for  every  sin- 
ner out  of  Christ! 

"Wherefore  he  is  able  also  to  save  them  to  the  uttermost  that  come 
unto  God  by  hfm,  seeing  he  everliveth  to  make  intercession  for  them." 
— Hebrews  7:25. 

"  He  is  not  only  able  to  save  you,  and  to  save  you  n<njt  but  he  is 
able  to  save  you  'to  the  uttermost' — to  the  limits  of  eternity,  if  there- 
be  a  limit  to  eternity.     He  saves  us  in  life  and  he  saves  us  in  death. 

So,  here  we  have,  first:  The  way  to  God  ;  second:  The  only  way  to- 
salvation  ;  and  third  :  The  eternal  way  to  salvation. 

"  Third.  When  should  I  come  to  Christ?  Right  now.  This  night  - 
this  hour.  '  Behold  now  is  the  accepted  time ;  behold  ?iow  is  the  day  of 
salvation.' — II  Corinthians  7:12. 

"  Exhort  one  another  daily,  while  it  is  called  to-day,  lest  any  of  you 
be  hardened  through  the  deceitfulness  of  sin." — Hebrews  3:13. 

"  God's  gospel  says  now ;  the  devil's  says  to-morrow,  and  men  are 
going  to  hell  everyday  on  this  'to-morrow  '  theory  of  the  devil.  Do- 
not  put  off  till  to-morrow  that  which  can  be  done  to-day.  Let  me 
illustrate:  Satan  called  a  solemn  conclave  of  his  imps  in  hell  to  consider 
the  best  means  to  lure  men  into  his  dominion,  and  he  called  for  su«- 
gestions.  One  imp  says,  'Tell  the  people  on  earth  there  is  no  God.' 
'Sit  down,'  says  Satan,  'you  can't  convince  people  of  that' 

"  Another  imp  says,  'Tell  them  the  Bible  is  a  lie;  that  there  is  no- 
heaven  and  no  hell.'  '  Sit  down,'  says  Satan,  '  haven't  I  been  trying  to 
make  them  believe  that  all  their  lives?  And  aren't  there  thousands- 
and  millions  who  had  rather  die  than  give  up  that  Book  ?' 

"Another  imp  says,  'Tell  them  there  is  a  God,  there  is  a  heaven, 
and  there  is  a  hell ;  but  add  to  it:  'There's  time  enough,  to-morrow 
will  do.'  '  That's  it !'  exclaimed  the  devil ;  '  that  will  fetch  'em  ;  that's 
the  sugar-coated  pill  they  will  swallow  with  avidity.'  And  he  has  been 
operating  on  that  line  ever  since. 

"  How  many  there  are  who  are  caught  with  this  bait!  There  are 
men  in  this  house  to-night  who  are  traveling  that  identical  road  to  helL 

"  At  a  meeting  I  held  in  Missouri,  a  man  who  remained  to  the 
enquiry  meeting  was  pointed  out  to  me,  and  I  was  told  that  he  was 
touchous  on  the  subject  of  religion,  and  that  it  was  best  not  to  approach 
him.  But  I  did  approach  him,  to  no  purpose,  however.  He  took  no 
stand  with  God's  people.  Shortly  after  I  left  there  I  received  a  letter 
stating  that  that  man,  while  reaching  through  the  delivery  window  for 


1 8  THE    GREAT    EVANGELIST. 

his   mail  at  the  post-office,  dropped  dead  without  a  moment's  warning. 
The  death  angel  did  not  wait  till  the  morrow  for  him. 

"  In  Mississippi  there  was  a  prominent  citizen  whose  house  was 
headquarters  for  card  playing — society  card  playing,  where  the  '  pro- 
gressive euchre  '  parties  were  held.  I  took  that  man  by  the  hand,  and 
looking  him  squarely  in  the  eye,  said :  '  Won't  you  settle  this  question 
to-night  ?  Will  you  not  give  your  heart  to  God  ?'  No,  he  wouldn't 
do  it.  Shortly  thereafter  that  man  died  in  the  greatest  agony,  without 
one  ray  of  hope.  He  lost  his  soul  by  waiting  till  the  morrow  !  He 
took  the  devil's  word  for  it,  instead  of  God's  word  for  it,  and  conse- 
quently he  was  damned  ! 

"  Fourth.  How  am  I  to  come  to  Christ?  '  The  kingdom  of  God  is 
at  hand:  Repent  ye,  and  believe  the  gospel.' — Mark  1:15. 

"  You  come  to  Jesus,  then,  by  repentance.  What  is  repentance  ? 
Some  peopie  think  crying  is  repentance,  but  it  is  not.  Crying  is  one 
of  the  results  of  repentance,  but  it  is  not,  per  se,  repentance.  Repent- 
ance is  purely  an  exercise  of  the  mind.  Regeneration  involves  the 
heart,  repentance  the  mind. 

"Let  me  illustrate:  Here  is  a  man  named  Smith  who  expects  to  go 
to  Greensboro  to-morrow,  and  take  a  considerable  sum  of  money  with 
him.  The  matter  leaks  out,  and  some  highway  robbers  hear  of  it. 
They  meet  and  lay  their  plans  to  rob  and  murder  him.  While  they 
are  plotting,  an  honest  citizen  comes  along  and  overhears  them.  He 
goes  to  Smith  and  tells  him  about  it.  '  Now,  Smith,'  he  says,  '  as  sure 
as  you  attempt  to  go  to  Greensboro  to-morrow  you  will  be  waylaid  and 
robbed.'  Well,  Smith  considers  the  matter,  and  he  reconsiders  the 
matter,  and  in  view  oS  the  facts  before  him,  he  concludes  not  to  go. 
That  is  repentance.  If  he  cries  because  lie  is  glad  he  escaped,  that  is 
the  result  of  repentance. 

"  Well,  now.  Here  is  a  man  who  is  going  to  hell.  I  stand  here  as 
God's  ambassador  and  tell  him  that  if  he  continues  in  that  road  he 
will  be  eternally  damned.  He  stops  and  considers.  He  reconsiders 
his  sinful  life,  and  in  view  of  the  facts  and  lights  before  him,  he  calls  a 
halt.  He  again  considers  ;  he  reconsiders,  and  resolves  to  seek  salva- 
tion. That's  repentance ;  if  a  man  does  it  out  of  respect  and  love  of 
God,  as  well  as  for  fear  of  Him,  that's  repentance.  It  may  make  you 
weep,  but  your  weeping  is  merely  a  result  of  your  repentance. 

'•  Let  the   wicked   forsake   his  way,  and   the   unrighteous  man  his       1 
thoughts:  and   let  him  return  unto  the  Lord,  and   he  will  have  mercy 
upon  him;  and  unto  our  God,  for  he  will  abundantly  pardon  him." — 
Isaiah  55:7. 

I  . 


COMIXG  TO   CHRIST.  ig 

"  You  must  not  only  repent  of  your  sins,  but  you  must  forsake  sin. 

"  He  that  cometh  unto  God  must  believe  that  he  is,  and  that  he  is  a 
rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him." — Hebrews  1 1:6. 

"In  coming  to  God,  through  Christ,  you  must  believe.  So,  here  we 
have  you  coming:  first,  by  repenting;  second,  by  forsaking  sin,  and 
third,  by  believing  in  God. 

"  Fifth.  Why  have  I  not  come  to  Jesus?  Old  man,  standing  on  the 
verge  of  the  grave,  why  have  you  not  come  to  Jesus  ?  Young  man, 
in  the  prime  of  life,  why  have  not  you  come  to  Jesus  ? 

"  Let  favor  be  showed  to  the  wicked,  yet  will  he  not  learn  righteous- 
ness:  in  the  land  of  uprightness  will  he  deal  unjustly,  and  will  not  be- 
hold the  majesty  of  the  Lord." — Isaiah  26:10. 

"You  have  not  come  to  Christ  because  you  would  net  learn 
righteousness.  You  have  learned  how  to  curse,  and  to  play  cards,  and 
to  lie,  and  to  drink  whiskey — you  have  learned  all  these  sins.  That 
shows  you  can  learn.     Now,  why  haven't  you  learned  to  do  right? 

"  I  have  called  and  ye  refused;  I  have  stretched  out  my  hand  and 
no  man  regarded." — Proverbs  1:25. 

"  Why  have  you  not  come?  It  was  not  because  you  couldn't  come ; 
it  was  because  ye  would  not. 

"O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  which  killest  the  prophets,  and  stonest 
them  that  are  sent  unto  thee ;  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy 
children  together,  as  a  hen  doth  gather  her  brood  under  her  wings, 
and  ye  would  not!" — Luke  13:24. 

"  Sixth.  What  if  I  never  come  to  Christ? 

"And  ye  will  not  come  to  me  that  ye  might  have  life." — John  5:40. 

"Well,  if  you  don't  come  you  will  never  have  eternal  life.  You  will 
have  existence,  but  not  life,  and  that  existence  will  be  passed  in  hell 
with  all  its  attending  torments. 

"  If  ye  believe  not  that  I  am  he,  ye  shall  die  in  your  sins." — John  S:24_ 

"So  if  you  do  not  come  you  will  surely  die  in  your  sins,  and  what 
does  that  mean  ?  Eternal  damnation  !  It  is  bad  enough  for  a  heathen 
to  die  in  his  sins,  but  it  is  pitiable  indeed  to  think  of  a  man  living  in 
this  enlightened  age,  and  enjoying  this  high  grade  of  civilization,  where 
the  gospel  is  preached  so  plainly,  so  simply  and  so  eloquently  to  all 
who  will  listen — it  is  indeed  a  sad  spectacle  to  see  a  man  die  in  his  sins. 

'•'  Rebellion  against  high  heaven  !  Sins  of  the  body,  sins  of  the  heart, 
sins  of  the  conscience,  sins  of  the  soul!  Sins  of  commission  and  omis- 
sion !  It  were  better  to  have  a  mill-stone  tied  about  your  neck  and  be 
cast  into  the  sea ! 


20  THE    CHEAT    EVANGELIST. 

"And  these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment;  but  the 
righteous  into  eternal  life." — Matthew  25:46. 

"If  you  never  come  to  Christ  you  will  die  in  your  sins,  and  if  you 
die  in  your  sins  you  will  go  into  everlasting  punishment.  '■ 

"Well,  this  man  says,  'I  don't  believe  in  everlasting  punishment.'  I 
don't  care  what  you  believe.  Your  belief  does  not  alter  the  case  at  all. 
God  says  you  will  go  into  '  everlasting  punishment,'  and  into  everlast- 
ing puishment  you  will  go,  your  belief  to  the  contrary,  notwithstanding. 

"  Here  is  a  man  condemned  to  be  hanged.  Well,  the  day  and  the 
hour  for  the  execution  arrives,  and  the  condemned  man  says,  '  Oh,  I 
don't  believe  in  this  hanging  business  at  all.'  'That  may  be  your 
opinion  about  it,'  says  the  sheriff,  '  but  that  doesn't  affect  the  case  at  all, 
I  am  going  to  hang  you  all  the  same.'     And  he  swings. 

"  What  was  that  poor  condemned  sinner's  opinion  worth  under  such 
circumstances,  and  at  a  time  like  that?  So  with  you,  dying  man,  to- 
night. Your  scoffing  cuts  no  figure  at  all.  You  are  going  to  die  just 
the  same,  and  you  are  going  to  hell  to  be  eternally  damned  unless  you 
come  to  Christ  before  you  die  ! 

"  Seventh.  What  if  I  do  come  to  Jesus  ? 

'"  Him  that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out." — John  6:37. 

"  Here  we  have  the  bright  side.  In  no  wise  will  He  cast  you  out,  if 
you  come  to  him. 

"  I  am  the  door;  by  me  if  any  man  enter  in,  he  shall  be  saved." — 
John  10:9. 

"  Christ  says  you  shall  enter  in,  despite  the  attemps  of  hell  and  the 
devil  to  keep  you  out.  There  are  no  ifs  and  ands  about  it.  You  shall 
pass  into  what?     Hear  what  the  Bible  says  on  this  point : 

"  To  an  inheritance  incorruptible  and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not 
away,  reserved  in  heaven  for  you." — 1st  Peter  1:4. 

"  An  incorruptible  and  undefiled  inheritance !  An  inheritance  that 
fadeth  not  away  !  And  it  is  reserved  in  heaven  for  you!  Think  of 
that — reserved  for  you! 

"  It  is  ready  for  you.  It  is  waiting  for  you  to-night!  Oh,  dying 
man,  will  you  come? 


PREPARE   TO    MEET   TilV    COD.  2  1 


PREPARE  TO  MEET  THY  GOD. 


On  Wednesday  night,  Sept.  26th,  Mr.  Pearson  took  his  text  from  the 
4th  chapter  of  Amos,  12th  verse :  "  Prepare  to  meet  thy  God." 

"  I  want  to  talk  to  you  to-night  about  making  preparation  to  meet 
God,  for  meet  him  you  must.  And  I  am  going  to  ask  three  simple 
questions  and  then  answer  them  : — 

1.  Why  should  I  prepare  to  meet  God? 

2.  How  should  I  prepare  to  meet  God? 

3.  When  should  I  prepare  to  meet  God? 

"First,  then:  Why  should  I  prepare  to  meet  God ?  Because  it  is 
God  you  are  to  meet.  You  are  not  to  meet  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  or  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  or  the  Queen  of  England,  or  the 
Czar  of  Russia — you  are  to  meet  God.  The  God  who  made  you  ;  the 
God  who  has  preserved  and  kept  you — that  God  before  whose  all- 
penetrating  eye  the  angels  and  arch-angels  tremble.  And  you  had 
better  be  prepared  to  meet  Him,  therefore  make  preparation. 

"  If  you  should  receive  a  message  from  the  President  to  go  to 
Washington  to  meet  him,  how  elated  you  would  be,  and  what  great 
preparations  you  would  make  for  the  event !  When  President  Cleve- 
land visited  several  of  the  Southern  States  recently,  what  extensive 
preparations  were  made  by  the  municipal  authorities  and  by  individu- 
als in  the  cities  he  visited.  It  was  meet  and  proper  that  this  should  be 
done,  and  it  would  have  been  an  insult  to  him  and  the  dignity  of  the 
office  he  holds  if  it  had  not  been  done. 

"Well,  it  will  be  a  still  greater  insult  to  God  if  you  fail  to  make  pre- 
paration to  meet  Him.  To  neglect  this  is  a  hazardous  thing  to  do;  to 
die  without  having  attended  to  it  is  ruinous,  and  it  is  an  insult  to  God 
to  defei".:T.he  matter  any  longer. 

"  Another  reason  why  you  should  prepare  is  because  you  are  now 
unprepared.  What  is  the  meaning  of  preparation  ?  Preparation  means 
having  your  name  written  in  the  Book  of  Life. 

"And  I  saw  a  great  white  throne,  and  him  that  sat  on  it,  from  whose 
face  the  earth  and  the  heaven  fled  away;  and  there  was  found  no  place 
for  them.  And  I  saw  the  dead,  small  and  great,  stand  before  God ; 
and  the  books  were  opened,  and  another  book  was  opened,  which  is 
the  book  of  life:  and  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  those  things  which 
were  written  in  thebooks.according  to  their  works." — Rev.  20:1 1  and  12. 

"  Is  your  name  on  that  Book  of  Life  ?     If  not  you  are  not  prepared 


22  THE   GREAT    EVANGELIST". 

to  meet  God.     Will  you  go  up  with  your  name  written  in  the  Book  of 
Life,  of  will  you  be  Cast  into  the  bottomless  lake? 

"  You  say  you  are  a  moral  man  ;  that  you  don't  do  anything  that  is 
very  wrong;  but  is  your  name  on  the  Book  of  Life  ?  I  do  not  dis- 
count morality,  but  is  your  name  there  ?  You  may  be  as  correct  a 
man  as  was  Nicodemus,  but  unless  your  name  is  on  that  Book  of  Life 
you  are  not  prepared  to  meet  your  God  !  So,  the  question  with  you  is 
this :  '  Tell  me,  Lord,  is  my  name  on  the  Book  of  Life?' 

"Another  reason  why  you  should  prepare  to  meet  God,  is  because 
you  must  meet  Him. 

"  For  we  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ,  that 
every  one  may  receive  the  things  done  in  his  body,  according  to  that 
he  hath  clone,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad." — II  Corinthians  5:10. 

"  You  must  meet  Him.  There  are  no  ifs  or  ands  about  it.  It  is  in- 
evitable. You  may  not  be  ready,  you  may  not  be  prepared,  but  you 
have  got  to  stand  before  the  judgment  seat  of  God,  whether  you  are 
ready  or  not.     Prepare,  then,  to  meet  thy  God. 

"Oh,  profane  man,  quit  cursing;  quit  taking  God's  name  in  vain,  and 
prepare  to  meet  Him!  Oh,  skeptic,  throw  away  your  doubts,  cast 
aside  the  minor  things  you  question,  and  prepare  to  meet  thy  God  ! 
Oh,  whiskey-seller ;  oh,  gambler;  oh,  God-defying  sinner — prepare  to 
meet  thy  God,  for  meet  Him  you  must ! 

"Think  of  the  guilt  upon  your  soul  now,  and  suppose  you  were  called 
into  the  presence  of  your  God  this  night.  How  would  you  meet  Him? 
I  beg  and  entreat  you  to  prepare,  and  to  prepare  now  for  the  all-im- 
portant event. 

"Another  reason  why,  is  because  there  is  nothing  so  important  to 
you  as  preparation  to  meet  God, 

"  For  what  is  a  man  profited,  if  he  shali  gain  the  whole  world  and 
lose  his  own  soul?  Or,  what  shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his 
soul?" — Matthew  16:26. 

"  It  is  very  important  that  a  lawyer  should  look  out  for  his  clients; 
that  a  doctor  should  attend  to  his  patients,  a  merchant  to  his  business, 
a  farmer  to  his  crops.  But  it  is  of  much  more  importance  that  they 
make  preparation  to  meet  their  God. 

"  It  is  a  mystery  to  me,  how  men  who  can  look  so  well  after  their 
worldly  interests  do  not  look  after  their  spiritual  interests  at  all.  Don't  | 
be  led  by  the  devil,  as  an  ox  to  the  slaughter,  any  longer.  See  Mat-  I 
thew  22nd  chapter,  10th  to  14  verses. 

"You  should  prepare  to  meet  God  because  of  the  momentous  results    1 
of  that  meeting. 


PREPARE   TO    .MEET   THY   GOD.  23 

"  Second:  How  shall  we  prepare  to  meet  God?  Let  the  wicked  for- 
sake his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts. 

"You  are  to  prepare  by  forsaking  sin.  Now,  why  does  He  want 
you  to  forsake  your  sins?  Is  it  because  He  does  not  want  you  to  have 
any  pleasure?  By  no  means.  God  loves  your  soul,  and  sin  damns 
your  soul,  and  it  is  for  that  reason  that  He  wants  you  to  forsake  sin 
Will  you  do  it? 

"  If  you  say  you  are  a  child  of  God  and  have  not  forsaken  your  sins, 
you  don't  know  what  you  are  talking  about. 

"  When  I  was  holding  a  series  of  meetings  in  Indiana  some  time 
ago,  I  was  the  guest  of  a  wealthy  merchant  who  was  a  "  Forty-niner" — 
one  of  the  men  who  went  to  California  in  '4p  during  the  gold-mines 
excitement  of  that  period,  and  he  told  me  a  story  that  will  do  to  il- 
lustrate: 

"He  was  on  a  vessel  traveling  through  the  Gull  of  Mexico,  on  his 
way  home,  and  there  were  a  number  of  miners  on  board.  These  mi- 
ners carried  theirgold  dust  in  a  belt  strapped  around  thei~  waists.  Well, 
one  of  them  fell  overboard.  He  could  swim,  and  under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances could  have  keept  afloat  until  a  boat  was  sent  to  his  relief, 
but  on  this  occasion  the  heavy  belt  of  gold  about  his  waist  caused  him 
to  sink  and  lose  his  life  before  help  could  reach  him.  And  my  host 
related  to  me  the  agony  depicted  on  that  drowning  man's  countenance 
as  he  sank  to  rise  no  more 

"  Oh,  my  friends,  some  of  you  are  sinking  into  the  bottomless  gulf 
of  destruction  to-night  with  the  belts  of  iniquity  strapped  around  your 
waists !  That  belt  will  cause  you  to  go  down  under  the  waters  of  sin 
forever  unless  you  take  it  off.     Will  you  throw  it  away  to-night  ? 

1"  You  must  prepare  to  meet  God  not  only  by  forsaking  sin,  but  you 
must  truly  and  earnestly  repent  of  your  sins. 

"  Repent  therefore  of  this  thy  wickedness  and  pray  God,  if  perhaps 
the  thought  of  thine  heart  ma)'  be  forgiven  thee." — Acts,  8:22, 

"  Do  not  stand  off  and  talk  about  the  sins  of  others,  and  deplore 
them.     But  repent  of  your  own  sins. 

"This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  him  whom  he  hath 
sent." — John,  6:29. 

"  Prepare  by  believing  on  the  Saviour — believe  on  Him  for  your  sal- 
vation. It  is  not  so  hard  to  get  a  man  to  believe  in  Christ,  but  it  is  an 
extremely  difficult  tiling  to  make  some  men  believe  in  a  personal  Jesus 
— that  Christ  loves  them  individually  ;  that  he  died  to  save  them  indi- 
vidually. 


2\j  THE   GREAT   EVANGELIST. 

"Well  Christ  does  love  you,  every  one  of  you,  individually;  and  he 
did  die  that  you  might  be  saved,  every  one  of  you,  and  every  one  of 
you,  individually. 

"  Now,  you  believe  that.  Accept  him  as  your  Savior,  and  he  will 
prepare  you  to  meet  God  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye! 

"There  is  another  way  you  must  prepare -to  meet  God:  If  you  have 
anything  that  does  not  belong  to  you,  you  must  make  restitution. 

"  You  must  be  honest,  and  you  must  pay  your  debts,  There  are 
too  many  church  members  who  do  not  pay  their  debts!  You  can't  go 
around  hunting  up  bankrupt  laws  and  statutes  of  limitation,  in  order  to 
avoid  paying  your  just  debts,  and  go  to  heaven.  Your  heart  is  not 
right  if  you  attempt  any  such  dodge.  You  can't  cheat  men  and  go  to 
heaven,  and  the  member  of  the  church  who  cheats  his  neighbor,  and 
fails  to  pay  his  debts,  is  living  a  lie. 

"  How  despicable!  Pretending  to  be  a  saint  while  you  have  your 
hands  in  your  pockets  making  some  other  man's  $20  eagle  squall ! 
It  won't  do.  If  you  are  honest  you  will  not  run  into  debt  unless  you 
see  your  way  clear  to  pay.  And  if  a  woman  is  honest  and  a  Christian 
she  will  not  go  around  to  the  stores  and  contract  debts  which  her 
husband  is  not  able  to  pay,  and  which  may  drive  him  to  the  gambling 
dens  in  a  vain  endeavor  to  get  the  money  to  pay  her  debts. 

"  If  you  have  got  another  man's  money,  or  another  man's  property, 
make  restitution.     Let's  be  honest.    -  ■;■{-_-  - :--■'.  ■  •;.    -       y 

"  Forsake  your  sins;  repent  of  them;  believe  in  Christ,  and  pay  your 
debts! 

"Third:   When  should  I  prepare  to  meet  God? 

"Now  is  the  time.  Seek  the  Lord  while  He  may  be  found,  call  ye 
upon  him  while  He  is  near.  The  time  to  prepare  to  meet  God  is  the 
time  God  appointed  for  you  to  make  preparation,  and  that  is  now. 
Don't  put  it  off  another  day.  Don't  live  on  in  your  sins  until  you 
pass  the  bounds  of  God's  mercy. 

"The  prudent  man  forseeth  the  evil,  and  hideth  himself;  but  the 
simple  pass  on  and  are  punished." — Proverbs,  \y,2. 

"The  time  to  prepare  is  while  the  evil  to  which  you  are  exposed 
may  be  averted.  You  are  exposed  to  evil  now,  and  notu  is  the  time  to 
avert  it.  .  VT  f'--       ' ','_- 

■-"Behold,  I  come  quickly;  and  my  record  is  with  me  to  give  every 
man  according.as  his  work  shall  be. — Rev.  21:12.  . 

"Now  is  the  time  for  us  to  secure  rewards.  Jesus  will  give  us  the 
reward  of  pardon.  Dear  dying  man,  will  you  accept  this  pardon  to- 
night and  thus  Prepare  to  Meet  thy  God  ?"  _ 


THE    BRAZEX   SERPENT.  2%, 

THE  BRAZEN  SERPENT. 


Another  packed  house  greeted   Mr.  Pearson  at   Centenary  M.   E.. 
church  on  Thursday  night,  September  27th.     He  took   his   text  from 
John  3:14  and  15  :  "And  as   Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilder- 
ness, even  so  must  the  son  of  man  be  lifted  up,  that  whosoever  believeth. 
in  him  should  not  perish  but  have  eternal  life." 

Mr.  Pearson  said  he  wanted  to  talk  about  the  Brazen  Serpent,  arid- 
there  were  three  facts  that  he  desired  to  state : 

1.  The  Israelites  were  bitten  by  the  snakes  that  were  sent  to  afflict 
them. 

2.  The  brazen  serpent,  lifted  up'  on  a  pole,  was  the  remedy. 

3.  A  look  at  the  brazen  serpent,  on  the  part  of  those  who  had  been' 
bitten  by  the  snakes,  was  the  condition  of  the  cure. 

And  here  are  the  three  parallel  facts  : 

1 .  We,  as  individuals,  have  been  bitten  by  the  devil. 

2.  Jesus  Christ  is  God's  remedy. 

3.  Faith  is  the  condition  of  the  cure  for  our  sinTbitten"  soufs. 

First,  then  :  The  Israelites  were  bitten — see  Numbers,  21:6.  There 
is  no  way  of  repudiating  that  fact— -they  were  bitten. 

Now,  the  parallel  fact  is  that  we  have  been  bitten  by  the  devil.  That 
fact  is  too  apparent  to  deny.  We  are  sin-smitten  ;  we  are  diseased  with 
innate  moral  depravity.     See  Genesis,  3:13. 

"And  the  Lord  said  unto  the  woman,  what  is  this  that  thou  hast 
done?     And  the  woman  said,  the  serpent  beguiled  and  I  did  eat." 

Was  the  venom  of  the  old  serpent  confined  to  the  first  one  bitten  ? 
Or  was  it  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation  ? 

"And  God  saw  that  the  wickedness  of  man  was  great  in  the  earth, 
and  that  every  imagination  of  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  was  only  evil 
continually." — Genesis  6:5. 

The  venom  of  the  devil  was  not  confined  to  the  first,  one,  and  human  ■ 
depravity  is  the  prevailing  characteristic  of  man  to-day. 

"All  we  like  sheep  have  gone  astray ;  we  have  turned  every  one  to 
his  own  way,  and  the  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all." — 
Isaiah,  53:6.  --:"*'■; 

"From  the  sole  of  the  foot  even  unto  the  head  there  is  no  sound- 
ness in  it ;  but  wounds  and  bruises  and  putrefying  sores  ;  they  have 
not  been  closed,  neither  bound  up,  neither  mollified  with  ointment." — 
Isaiah.  1:6. 


3.6  THE    GREAT    EVANGELIST. 

"The  heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things,  and  desperately  wicked." — 
Jeremiah,  17:9.  -.-  "...■; 

Some  say  these  quotations  are  from  the  Old  Testament;  that  they 
are  ante-diluvian.  This  is  very  true.  But  the  Old  Testament  is  as 
much  a  part  of  the  Bible  as  the  new.  Well,  what  does  the  New  Tes- 
tament say?  -  ■'•  i  \£--£i*p;  -^ 
•  "  For  out  of  the  heart  proceed  evil  thoughts,  murders,  adulteries, 
fornications,  thefts,  false  witness,  blasphemies.  These  are  the  things 
which  defile  a  man." — Matthew,  15:19  and  20.  See  also,  Galatians, 
5:19  to  21  inclusive. 

-  ''They  which  do  such  things  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God." 
So,  you   must  accept  the  doctrine  of  human   depravity.     You  must 

believe  that  the.  old  serpent  is  in  us ;  that  we  are  devil  bitten,  and  mor- 
'ally  depraved.    "  -:  :.'■    ~  :.'^~l^^-~-:. 

No  better  evidence  of  this  fact  is  needed  than  the  news  columns  of 
the  daily  newspapers. 

Second  Fact. — The  brazen  serpent  was  God's  remedy  for  the  cure 
of  those  that  were  bitten  by  the  serpents.     See  Numbers,  21:8. 

There  is  no  escape  from  this  conclusion  unless  you  deny  God's 
word — that  brazen  serpent  was  the  remedy.  Just  that,  and  nothing 
else — of  itself  and  by  itself,  and  all  they  had  to  do  was  to  accept  the 
remedy.  ^r^jAM^i  :.:"- 

They  didn't  have  to  go  to  work  and  manufacture  a  remedy— all  they 
had  to  do  was  to  accept  the  remedy  that  God  had  made  for  them. 

-  Now,  the  parallel  fact  is  that  Jesus  Christ  himself,  without  any  hu- 
man supplements,  is  God's  remedy  for  cur  diseased  souls.  '  \  ;• 

Some  man  says,  "  Is  that  a  fact  ?     Is  that  all  ?"      Read  John  3:14  to 
It?;  Acts,  3:12;  I  Cor.,  3:11  ;  Isaiah, -53:5,  and  judge  for  yourself. 
■-  Yes,  that  is  so,  and  the  trouble  with  a  great  many  is  that  they  want 
to  add  something  to  it — they  want  to  add  an  oversufFiciency  to  God's 
sufficiency.  ■.-'.'-  ,.-. 

Have  faith.     Christ  is  the  only  remedy — not  theology,  but  Jesus. 

Moses  said  to  the  sick  man :  "  Look  on  the  brazen  serpent  and  live." 
And  if  he  didn't  look  he  died.  Now,  Christ  is  God's  remedy  for  we 
sin-stricken  mortals.  Have  faith,  look  to  Jesus  Christ  and  have  etern- 
al life.  If  you  don't  do  it  you  will  be  lost,  "-'-t.'  •■■  '.^'A  ---"k&teS 
'■•■  Here  is  a  man  with  a  pot  on  the  fire  making  a  poultice.  Moses  tells 
him  to  let  the  poultice  alone  and  look  on  the  brazen  serpent.  He 
could  be  cured  without  the  poultice,  and  if  he  could  not  be  cured  with- 
out it  he  could  not  be  cured  with  it  wS-fj$te£  ■ 


THE   BRAZEN   SERPENT.  2$ 

And  so  there  are  people  who  are  not  willing  to  be  saved  by  grace; 
not  willing  or  contented  to  be  saved  simply  by  Faith-  -they  want  to  go 
into  the  poultice  business;  they  want  to  add  something  to  God's  rem- 
edy,  the  only  remedy.     See  John,  1:12  and  13. 

Third  Fact. — A  look — not  a  feeling — a  look  upon  that  brazen  ser- 
pent was  the  condition  of  the  cure.     See  Numbers,  21:9. 

They  had  been  bitten;  there  was  the  brazen  serpent,  and  I'll  they 
had  to  do  was  to  look  at  it. 

There  was  an  Israelite  who  was  so  sick  he  could  not  move.  He  did 
not  have  to  move.  All  he  had  to  do  was  to  raise  his  eyes  and  look 
upon  the  brazen  serpent,  and  he  was  cured. 

There  was  another  who  would  not  look  until  something  was  ex- 
plained to  him.  He  may  have  asked  Moses  why  God  made  snakes-. 
Well,  that  was  none  of  his  business.  The  fact  was  that  the  snakes 
were  made  and  they  had  bitten  him,  and  he  was  going  to  die  if  he  did 
not  accept  the  remedy. 

There  was  an  old  ■  sinner,  and  he  was  in  a  tent,  when  Moses  came 
along.  Big  crowd  around  him.  An  old  lady,  his  wife,  went  to  Moses 
and  asked  him  to  go  in  and  see  him,  and  added  :  "But  be  careful ;  he 
is  very  peculiar?  Well,  he  had  been  bitten  by  the  snakes,  and  the  on- 
ly thing  peculiar  about  him  was  that  he  was  going  to  die  and  go  to 
hell  if  he  does  not  accept  the  remedy. 

There  was  another  one,  who  was  silting  down  looking  at  his  foot 
Moses  came  along  and  said,  "What  are  you  looking  at  your  foot  for?" 
And  the  sick  man  said,  "Oh,  Moses  ;  I've  been  bitten  by  the  snakes. 
Look  at  that  foot ;  see  how  swollen  it  is  and  it  is  getting  worse  every 
minute."  "Well,  quit  looking  at  your  foot,"  Moses  replied,  "and  look 
at  the  brazen  serpent,  if  you  want  to  be  cured." 

That  is  the  trouble  with  many  men  to-day.  Instead  of  looking  at 
the  Cross,  they  sit  gazing  into  their  own  vile  hearts.  Look  to  Christ 
and  be  healed. 

There  was  a  young  Israelite  who  had  been  bitten  and  he  had  fallen 
with  his  face  in  the  opposite  direction  from  where  the  brazen  snake 
was.  He  was  too  weak  to  move,  and  he  didn't  want  to  move  any- 
way. He  did  not  believe  the  brazen  serpent  had  anything  to  do  with 
his  malady.  His  father  and  mother  were  with  him.  They  lifted  him 
up  and  put  his  face  in  line  with  the  brazen  serpent  on  the  pole,  and 
all  he  had  to  do  was  to  look.  But  he  shut  his  eyes  and  would  not  see 
even  then.  ".- '-■_  ,  -  '.  !-■ 

Oh  how  many  of  you  are  there  here  to  night  who  have  been  brought 


2S  THE   GREAT   EVANGELIST. 

up  by  pious  parents  in  the  fear  and  admonition  of  the  Lord ;  how  many- 
faces  have  been  turned  by  a  loving  mother's  hands  directly  in  line  with 
"the  Cross  of  Christ  and  been  told  to  look  to   Jesus,  only  to   shut 
your  eyes  and  reject  a  Saviour's  love !     None  are  so  blind  as  those 
who  will  not  see. 

Well,   here  was  another  one,  and  he  was  very  sick.     Moses   came 
-along  at,  say  IO  o'clock,  and  he  wanted  to  know  why  he  hadn't  looked 
at  the  brazen  serpent     "  Well,  Moses,"  he  said,  "  I  am  going  to  look — 
I  am  going  to   look  at  12  o'clock."     Moses  came  back  at  12  o'clock 
^nd  he  hadn't  looked,  and  he  said  he  was  going  to  look  at  2  o'clock- 
But  he  hadn't  looked  at  2  o'clock  and  he  put  it  off  until  4  and  then 
until  6  o'clock.     Finally  it  got  so  late  he  couldn't  see  the  brazen  ser- 
pent, and  Moses  came  back  after  dark  and  found  that  he  was  dead. 

And  men  are  doing  the  same  thing  to-day.     You  keep  waiting,  put- 
ting off,  postponing,  deferring  and  the  poison  of  sin  is  coursing  through 
your  veins  and  impregnating  your  system  all  the  time,  and  finally  you 
become  so  steeped  in  sin  that  you  cannot  comply  with  the  condition  of        | 
cure  and  you  die  a  lost  man! 

Here  was  another  man  and  he  was  very  sick  indeed.     And  he  said, 
"Moses,  if  I  look  will  I  be  cured  now,  right  now?"     Moses  told  htm  ;. 
yes.     And  with  a  trembling  eye  he  fixed  the  gaze  of  Faith  on  the 
serpent   and   he  was"  a   well   man.     He   arose,  took   up  his  bed,   and^. 
walked !     And  as   he  thanked  Moses,  he  said,  " I  didn't  know  I  could": 
be -cured  so  quickly."  .-->.■.:.       .  .        :     .      ..-._- 

Now,  the  parallel  fact  is,  that  Faith — not  comprehension  or  under- 
standing—but Faith,  of  itself,  is  the  condition  of  salvation.    All  who 
comply  with  that  condition  and  look  to  Christ  will  be  saved;  those 
who  do  not  will  be  lost.  .    „:  ■■■ 

.;.  That's  all.     Simply  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  accept 
Christ  as  your  saviour  and  thou  shalt  be  saved.     See  the  following 
references:  Galatians,  3:26;    John,  5:24;   John,  6:47;  Acts,  13:38  and 
20;  Romans,  4:4;  Romans,  5:1.         :_- 

Here  is  a  man  with  a  sin-sick  soul ;  here  is  Christ  on  the  cross — 
look,  dying  man  and  be  cured.     You  must  look,  and  that  is  the  one 
condition.  ^'-^J-/'  :  - .;'Mi>-*-'.': ?■&,■-<: •■  ■■■■--  '.-■-.;•     '0%h 

'"Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  son  of  God;  the  one  who 
loved  and  died  for  you,  and,  thus  believing,  commit  your  soul  into  his 
..keeping.]  .-,    .---..--;;;-; _-/;-  -  ------  i'-^^;it..:  ":.:..";":  ;.■";:" 

•4'-' Well,  some  man  asks   me  what  did  God  make  snakes  for,  anyway? 


£35ja  -'*rT7\...:--.;..; 


WHA1    SHALL    I    DO    WITH    JESUS?  29 

That  is  none  of  our  business  and  we  should  not  argue  about  it.  The 
fact  is  God  did  make  snakes,  and  they  bit  the  children  of  Israel. 

But  remember  this:  No  man  died  because  he  had  been  bitten  by 
snakes.  That  isn't  what  killed  them.  They  died  because  they  would 
not  look  on  the  brazen  serpent.  They  died  because  they  zaould  not  ac- 
cept the  remedy  which  God  offered  them  ! 

So  with  you.  Some  of  you  are  great  sinners  and  you  have  been 
sinning  a  long  time.  But  you  are  not  dying  a  spiritual  death  on  that 
account. 

Remember  this  :  You  are  dying,  and  will  be  damned,  because  yen  mill 
not  accept  God's  remedy  and  be  cured  of  your  sins  !  That  is  what  is 
killing  you  to  night 

Will  you  look  upon  the  Cross  of  Christ,  and  be  saved  now?  He 
that  heareth  My  word  and  believeth  on  him  that  sent  me  shall  have 
eternal  life. 

God  grant  that  you  may  resolve  to  do  that  to-night. 


The  usual  inquiry  meeting  was  then  held.  Hundreds  of  people  re- 
mained and  about  twenty  found  peace  before  they  left  the  church, 
making  in  the  neighborhood  of  one  hundred  conversions  since  the  se- 
ries of  meetings  began. 

But  Mr.  Peason's  work  must  not  be  judged  solely  by  the  number  of 
new  professions.  Perhaps  the  greatest  good  that  he  accomplished 
was  the  fact  that  hundreds  of  professing  Christians  and  members  of 
the  church,  who  had  back-slidden  or  grown  cold  in  their  faith,  were 
brought  again  to  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and  had  their  faith  renewed  and 
strengthened  by  the  prop  of  a  new  determination  to  more  faithfully 
serve  their  God  in  the  future. 


WHAT  SHALL  I  1)0  WITH  JESUS? 


On  Friday  night,  September  28th,  Mr.  Pearson  took  his  text  from 
Matthew,  27:22  :  "  "What  shall  I  do  then  with  Jesus,  which  is  called 
Christ?" 

He  explained  the  customs  of  the  Jews,  the  cry  for  the  crucifixion  of 
Christ,  Pontius  Pilate's  hesitation  and  indecision  about  pronouncing 

■.  \ 


30 


THE    GREAT    EVANGELIST. 


judgment  upon  Him,  his  final  official  determination  and  the  motives 
which  led  him  to  put  Jesus  to  death  on  the  cross.  Pilate  had  to  make 
some  decision.  ■  So  with  all  of  us;  we  must  decide — not  officially,  but 
individually,  what  we  will  do  with  Christ — Jesus,  our  saviour  ;  Jesus, 
our  commander;  Jesus,  our  all  in  all.     What  will  /do  with  Jesus? 

So,  I  want  to  talk  to  you  to-night  about  disposing  of  Jesus,  and  there 
are  three  facts  that  cannot  be  ignored  : 

1.  You  must  do  something. 

2.  You  have  done  something. 

3.  What  you  finally  do  will  decide  your  eternal  destiny. 

First,  then;  You  must  do  something  with  Jesus.  You  can't  ignore 
this  matter.  You  can't  turn  away  from  it  and  say  you  will  not  do 
anything  with  Him.  You  are  a  free  moral  agent,  and  you  must  make 
a  decision.  God  has  presented  you  with  a  ruler  and  a  king,  and  you 
must  decide  whether  you  will  accept  him  or  not. 

Pontius  Pilate  represented  every  unsaved  man,  and  he  did  not  want 
to  face  the  issue.     Why  ? 

"Well  he  had  been  wronging  the  people  and  defying  the  govern- 
ment, and  he  did  not  want  Caesar  to  learn  of  his  misdoings,  but  he 
knew  the  Jews  would  report  him  to  Caesar  if  he  did  not  convict  Christ. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  felt  in  his  heart  that  Jesus  ought  not  to  be 
put  to  death,  and  he  said  that  he  found  no  fault  in  Him.  .He  did  not 
want  to  convict  an  innocent  man.  ^:'-v; " 

Here  was  wealth,  position,  power,  and  luxury  on  one  hand,  and  con- 
science and  better  nature  on  the  other.  - 1[ 

So  with  many  of  you  to-night.  You  have  been  sinning  mightily. 
You  have  been  wronging  your  fellow  man.  Here  are  your  associates 
in  wrong  doing ;  it's  hard  to  pull  out  of  the  old  rut,  and  you  don't 
want  to  dig  up  the  dark  record  of  the  past. 

-  On  the  other  hand,  down  in  your  heart  of  hearts  you  are  convinced 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  but  you  don't  want  to  reflect.  Like  some  pro- 
fessed infidels,  you  are  convicted  in  your  own  mind,  but  to  all  outward 
appearances  you  are  an  infidel.  ..,  .  . 

There  was  an  infidel  in  Texas  who  walked  up  and  down  the  room 
all  night,  exclaiming,  "  I  am  a  skeptic  ;  I  am  an  infidel,  but  I  am  going 
to  hell  all  the  same !." 

And  it  is  so.  You  may  bean  unbeliever;  you, may  be  a  skeptic; 
you  may  be  an  infidel,  but  let  me  .tell  you  that  you  are  merely  play- 
ing a  bluff,  and  you  are  going  straight  to  hell  despite  your  unbelief 
and  in  spite  of  your  skepticism.  :-      .    - 

/VA:-,  '         ■■■-■       ■-  ■■■■■■:■■      '  .—      -.-''  - 


-■■■.■'.         J  '  ■  ,     '-    . 


<m 


•  ■ 


WHAT   SHALL   I    DO   WITH    JESUS?  3 1 

Oh,  resolve  this  night  to  cut  loose  from  all  this  and  accept  Christ  as 
your  saviour.     Decide  this  night  what  you  will  do  with  Jesus. 

Pilate  tried  to  shirk  the  issue  by  sendin  j  Christ  to  Herod  and  throw- 
ing the  responsibility  on  him.  But  Herod  said,  "  No,  sir.  You  are 
the  proper  person  to  decide  this  question,  officially,  and  you  must  face 
the  issue." 

So  with  the  sinner.  You  may  try  to  get  out  of  it  by  palming  it  off 
on  some  preacher,  but  that  won't  do.  You  may  say  that  this  preacher 
is  too  plain,  or  that  preacher  preaches  too  long;  or  you  may  find  faun 
with  some  evangelist,  who  hits  you  between  the  eyes,  and  say  he  is  too 
pointed.  But  you  can't  throw  off  your  defects  on  the  preacher.  The 
question  with  you  is  not  how  you  like  the  preacher,  but  what  are  you 
going  to  do  with  Jesus?  It  is  the  preacher's  place  to  please  God,  let 
men  think  what  they  may. 

Pontius  Pilate  thought  he'd  call  a  mass  meeting  and  when  the  rabble 
cried,  "Crucify  him!"  he  thought  he  would  get  out  of  it  in  that  way. 

And  so  there  are  men  who  talk  about  inconsistent  church  members — 
the  church  members  who  get  drunk,  and  don't  pay  their  debts,  &c.  It 
is  too  true  that  there  are  such  people  in  the  church  of  Christ,  but  that 
is  none  of  your  business  just  now. 

God  is  not  going  to  ask  you  what  you  think  of  the  church  members. 
He  is  going  to  say:  "What  did  you  do  with  my  Son?"  The  Bible 
says  every  man  must  give  an  account  of  himself.  But  you  press  the 
question  of  personal  salvation  on  some  men,  and  how  they  will  ask 
side  questions ! 

I  had  a  man  to  ask  me  once,  when  1  approached  him  about  his  own 
salvation,  what  would  become  of  the  heathen  ?  What  has  that  got  to 
do  with  you  ?  I  am  not  preaching  to  the  heathen — exactly ;  1  am 
preaching  to  you  I  God  will  give  the  heathen  justice  in  some  Vv ay. 
But  what  is  to  become  of  you  ?     That  is  the  question  iox  yen:  to  decide. 

You  have  got  to  decide  it  some  time.     Why  not  to  nigh'  ? 

2.  Now," as  to  the  second  fact:  You  have  already  done  something 
with  Jesus,  and  you  have  done  one  of  four  things.  You  have  either 
compromised,  defered,  rejected,  or  accepted. 

Have  you  tried  to  compromise  this  question  by  saying:  "Well,  I 
am  not  exactly  ready  to  join  the  church,  but  I  help  support  the  church 
and  I  send  money  to  the  heathen."  Well,  you  can't  compromise  the 
matter  in  any  such  way.  You  can't  buy  off  Jesus  Christ.  You  can't 
serve  two  masters;  you  can't  serve  both  God  and  mammon.  There  is 
no  compromise  between   heaven  and  hell ;  there  is  no  compromise  be- 


3^ 


THE   GREAT  EVANGELIST. 


tween  salvation  and  perdition.  You  will  either  go  straight  to  heaven  or 
directly  to  hell.  So  lay  aside  all  idea  of  a  compromise,  and  decide  to 
do  one  of  the  two  things.     What  is  your  decision  ? 

Have  you  been  deferring  this  matter?  Well,  don't  defer  it  any 
longer.  Deferring  it  doesn't  settle  it.  How  long  have  you  been  serv- 
ing the  devil  ?  Forty  years  or  longer,  some  of  you,  and  you  are  be- 
coming more  and  more  involved  every  day. 

Let  me  illustrate :  Here  are  two  men,  and  one  owes  the  other  $10,- 
ooo,  at  10  per  cent,  interest  Well,  the  time  to  pay  that  note  arrives, 
and  the  debtor  can't  meet  the  payment  without  taking  so  much  money 
out  of  his  business  that  it  would  ruin  him.  What  does  he  do?  He 
asks  for  an  extension  of  time,  and  the  creditor  says  :  "  Well,  if  you  give 
me  a  new  note,  agree  to  an  increased  rate  of  interest,  and  give  me  a 
mortgage  on  that  farm  out  there,  I  will  do  it."  The  debtor  agrees. 
When  the  new  note  becomes  due,  he  can't  conveniently  meet  it,  and 
he  gives  another  note,  with  a  still  greater  rate  of  interest,  and  a  mort- 
gage on  another  farm,  and  so  on.  Will  he  ever  settle  the  debt  in  that 
way  ?  Most  assuredly  not.  On  the  contrary,  he  is  getting  deeper  in 
debt,  more  and  more  involved,  every  day. 

So  with  you,  my  friends.  You  may  go  on  and  on,  deferring  this 
question  until  you  become  spiritually  bankrupt.  March  up  like  a  man 
and  settle  this  matter  to-night 

Have  you  rejected  Christ  ?  If  you  have  not  attempted  to  compro- 
mise, have  not  deferred — have  you  rejected  Jesus  as  your  saviour  ? 
You  can  settle  the  matter  in  that  way.  Oh,  yes;  i  eject  Christ,  and  that 
will  settle  it !  ..  -     -•:  "-^ 

Pilate  settled  it  that  way  and  had  Christ  crucified.  There  may  be 
some  here  to-night  who  are  inclined  to  settle  it  that  way.  Pilate  de- 
cided that  Christ  had  no  wealth,  no  influence  such  as  the  Jews  pos- 
sessed, and  he  couldn't  afford  to  acquit  him,  though  really  convinced 
of  His  innocence.  He  reasoned  that  it  would  hurt  him  in  the  estima- 
tion of  those  wealthy  and  influential  Jews  if  he  did  not  put  him  to 
death.    Well,  how  did  it  turn  out  ? 

Soon  after  the  crucifixion  of  Christ,  the  misdoings  of  Pilate,  which 
he  was  so  anxious  to  keep  hidden,  were  reported  to  Caesar.  Pilate  was 
deposed  from  power  and  banished  from  his  country.  And  there,  an 
exile  in  a  strange  land,  forsaken  by  God  and  man,  he  died  a  miserable 
death  by  his  own  hand.'..  He  committed  suicide.  He  not  only  lost 
money,  influence,  power,  and  life  itself;  but  he  lost  his  soul !  What  is 
a  man  profited  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  Now, 


i 


WHAT  SHALL    I    DO    WITH    JESUS?  33* 

what  will  become  of  you  if  you  die  rejecting  Christ?  You  will  lose- 
your  soul  and  be  damned  for  all  time  to  come!  Are  you  willing  to- 
reject  Christ  on  those  conditions  ? 

Well,  have  you  settled  it  by  accepting" Christ  as  your  Saviour  ?  You 
can  settle  it  in  that  way  and  that  is  the  best  way  to  settle  it.  Accept 
Jesus  as  the  Christ,  as  your  Saviour — as  Sau]  of  Tarsus  accepted  Him 

Here  was  a  young  man  of  note,  of  good  family,  a   scholar,  a  lawyer 
by  profession,  with  bright  prospects  before  him.     No  roan  had  brighter 
worldiy  prospects.     What  did  he  do  ? 

He  accepted  Jesus,  and  by  doing  so  he  lost  a  good  deal.  He  lost' 
money,  he  lost  social  standing,  he  lost  friends.  But  he  had  a  friend  in 
Jesus,  ("  Oh,  what  a  friend  we  have  in  Jesus  ! ")  and  his  losses  related- 
only  to  this  world. 

'How  did  HE  die  f     '■  ".-" 

What  a  comparison  was  his  death  to  that  of  Pontius  Pilate  I 

There,  in  the  presence  of  Nero  ;  there  with  his  head  on  the  block,, 
ready  to  be  beheaded — did  he  say  he  was  sorry  because  he  had  ac- 
cepted Jesus  ?     Nay,  verily ! 

No !  He  fought  the  good  fight,  he  had  kept  the  faith,  he  had  fin- 
ished his  course,  and  thenceforth  there  was  a  crown  for  him  in  heaven- 
where  he  went  to  appear  before  the  all-righteous  Judge.  And  he  died 
with  the  dying  declaration:  "1  am  conscious  of  a  glorious  Triumph  hi 
heaven ! " 

He  lost  the  sordid  gold  of  the  earth — now  he  has  the  treasures 
which  he  laid  up  in  heaven !  He  has  an  inheritance  with  God — an  in- 
heritance which  is  incorruptible,  undefiled  and  which  fadeth  not  away  I 

He  lost  friends  in  this  world — now  he  is  the  frie?id  of  Jesus  ! 

He  lost  social  standing  in  this  world — now  he  belongs  to  the  aris- 
tocracy of  the  skies ! 

He  lost  society  caste  in  this  world — now  he  stands  numbered  with 
the  nobility  of  glory ! 

Will  you  go  to  heaven  like  Saul  of  Tarsus,  or  will  you  go  to  hell  as 
did  Pontius  Pilate  ?  Dear  dying  man,  that  is  the  question  for  you  to 
decide  this  night.  .  '■;;..• 

'V  3:  What  you  finally  do  will  decide  your  eternal  destiny.  Now,  what 
will  you  do  with  Jesus? 

.".Suppose  you  reject  him.  See  Matthew,  25th  chapter,  and  read  it, 
"Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the 
devil  and  his  angels." 

The  disposition  you   make  of  Christ  will  determine  the  disposition 


34 


THE    GREAT  'EVANGELIST. 


^v 


He  will  make  of  you.  Dispose  of  him  by  accepting  him,  and  He  will 
take  you  to  his  bosom.  Reject  him,  and  He  will  spurn  you  as  unfit 
for  the  universe  of  God  aod  only  fit  for  hell.  ;  :•."."  :   '  ;i 

Who  is  Jesus  ? 
-    He  is   the  One  who  loves  you  better  than  your  own  mother  does; 
He  who   was  spit  upon  and  despitefully  used  for  your  sake;  He  who 
•died  on  the  cross  to  save  you  !         .  ..~-iy.-\  ■':'.-  s,*i-S:£5i':;i>1  "^  '~f:L  IstStS 

.  i.  Jesus,  the  bread  of  life!  Jesus,  the  water  of  life!  Jesus,  the  only 
One  whose  blood  can  cleanse  your  soul  from  sin  !  He  who  can  take 
your  soul  to  God  !  He,  who  will  come  again  by  and  by  !  Blessed 
Jesus  ! !  He,  who  will  sit  on  the  Great  White  Throne  to  judge  us  all- 
say,  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  Jesus?.  L\.  ',£&.  ".  •-  -  '■--■''    '[■•';. 

■.'  -  If  you  are  ashamed  of  Jesus  here  He  will  be  ashamed  of  you  when 
we  all  stand  around  the  Great  White  Throne.  What  are  you  going  to 
do  with  Jusus  ?  ../-  -.  ;-.-  -;.'.■■:}■_  ::;•.••■-, :":';.         j  .  '-' .  -.: .--";:.    ■."";•'■,' 

jfofj  Well, .my,  friends,  I'll  tell  you  what  /  am  going  to  do  with  Him.'  Tr 
have  -accepted  Jesus  as-  my  Saviour,   my  commander,   myall  in   all. 
And  His  commands  are  the  principles  which  regulate  my  life  until  the 

■_  end.     ■'.      ---<■-_-       ■•;•-     •'■  ■  -  ■'  >-.->,  (-  ■  -  -  fSg>|5£<$pS 

..'.  And  Ilwantto  say  here  in  this  year  of  our  Lord,  1888,  in  this  good 
old  State  of  North  Carolina,  in  this  city  of  Winston,  and  on  this  28th 
day  of  September— I  am  not  ashamed  to  call  Him  my  Commander,  my 
Saviour,  my  Master ! 

...  Let  the  wife  of  my  bosom  forsake  me;. let  the  only  brother  1  have 
in  the  world  renounce  me,  let  mankind  turn  their  backs  upon  me — I 
am  going  to  continue  to  stick  to  Jesus  !  :    liSSrcS?* 

My  God ! .    My  Hope ! !     My  Eternal  Refuge  ! ! !  : %  .  . 

"  VAnd  when  you  hear  that  Pearson  is  dead,  you  may  know  that  he 
died  with  both  arms  around  the  Cross,  clinging  to  Christ !  Blessed 
Jesus?         ,:-yx-  '         ■   mIf  'i'hiii    ;-  'V^'''^'-"    ■ '  J ''■--■  .-*»"??  ■■■4tf;"'-- 

The  closing  words  of  this  sermon  were  of  a  most  affecting  nature, 

and  the  tears  trickled  down  the  cheeks  of  hundreds  of  his  hearers  as 

they  coursed  rapidly  from  the  eyes  of  him  who  uttered  them„:-  At  the 

.after-meeting  at   least  700  people   remained  and  there  were  27  new 

.  converts.    --.-■  "~.     ■    '  •;7.  ':      ' ,    'Vl-  "-"•- "  ,■ 


Wi& 


;^M- 


'  ESS    -  ■'•  -"-  ;-v 


'■'■■■■.-■■.'.■."■■*-  ■; 


■  THE- HOLY   SPIRIT.  ' $£ 

THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


Centenary  church  was  filled  with  people  Sunday  night,  September 
30th,  before  7  o'clock,  and  hundreds  of  people  were  turned  away  before 
the  preliminary  services  began,  at  7:15  o'clock. 

Mr.  Pearson  took  his  text  from  John,  14:26:  "But  the  comforter,- 
which  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  he 
shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance,, 
whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you." 

You  ask  me  if  I  understand  what  the  Holy  Trinity  is,  and  I  tell  you 
no;  I  do  not  understand  it  at  all.  Have  I  examined  it?  I  don't  ex- 
amine it.  What  do  I  do  with  it,  then?  Well,  I  believe  in  it.  I  accept 
it,  without  understanding  it,  as  a  truth  revealed  in  God's  blessed  word- 
In  the  Trinity  we  have  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  I  want  to  talk  to  you  to-night  about  the  Holy  Spirit — vital  and 
important  subject ;  the  subject  about  which  there  is  so  much  specula- 
tion, and  concerning1  which  so  many  mythical  ideas  are  advanced. 
And  why?     Because  people  do  not  study  the  bearing  of  God's  word 

■  on  this  great  question  as  they  ought. 

Now  there  are  five  questions  to  be  asked  and  answered  : 
-.  ;  1.  Is  the  Holy  Ghost  a  personality  ? 
.  .  2.  What  is  the  relation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the  written  Word  of  God  ? 

3.  What  is  the  relation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  unsaved  sinners  ? 
:  ■  4.  What  is  the  relation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the  regenerated  child 
of  God?  .:,    .    .  :■''{■'■'.  •". 

5.'  What  are  some  of  the  emblems  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ? 
y. First,  then  :  Is  the  Holy  Ghost  a  personality?        •'    -V  '    --- 

■  ;    This  is  a  vital    question,  and  we  want  to  gel:  down  with  both-  feet;  to 
an  understanding  of  what  God's  word  says  about  it     '    '■ n  -:- 

In  Matthew,  iSth  chapter  and  19th  verse,  we  have  these -wc»rds: 
•"  Go  ye  therefore  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
'..  :So,  in  baptism  we  have  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  The  personality 
of  the  Father  and  the  Son  will  not  be  questioned  ;  and  any  argument, 
any  philosophy,  any  theory  which  will'  show  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
not"  a  personality,  will  also  show,  with  a  little  substitution,  that  God 
the  Father  is  not  a  personality — and  we  must  stand  or  fall  on  the  per- 
sonality of  the  Father. 


3<5 


THE   GREAT   EVANGELIST. 


The  same  argument  that  will  prove  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  not  a 
personality,  will  also  prove  that  Jesus  Christ  is  not  a  personality.  And 
when  you  destroy  the  personality  of  your  Saviour,  the  whole  structure 
-of  religion  falls  to  the  ground.  So  we  must  either  accept  the  doctrine 
of  the  personality  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  fall  back  on  bald,  blank 
■atheism.  How  vital,  then,  is  the  question  of  the  personality  of  the 
Holy  Ghost! 

THE   UNPARDONABLE   SIN. 

Do  you  know  what  "the  unpardonable  sin"  is?  Well.it  is  bias, 
phemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost.  Here  it  is,  as  plain  as  daylight,  in 
Matthew,  12:21  and  22 :—"  Wherefore,  I  say  unto  you:  All  manner  of 
sin  and  blasphemy  shall  be  forgiven  unto  men,  but  the  blasphemy 
-against  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  not  be  forgiven  unto  men.  And  whoso- 
ever speaketh  a  word  against  the  Son  of  man,  it  shall  be  forgiven  him  ; 
.  but  whosoever  speaketh  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  it  shall  not  be  for- 
given him,  neither  in  this  world,  neither  in  the  world  to  come." 

Blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  unpardonable  sin — the  sin 
for  which  God  offers  no  forgiveness,  in  this  world  nor  any  other.  '„,'■  r; 
.:'■  Well,  you  can't  blaspheme  an  attribute;  you  can  only  blaspherre  a 
personality.  Therefore,  when  this  sin  of  blasphemy  against  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  held  up  as  the  unpardonable  sin,  there  could  be  no  stronger 
argument  of  the  personality  of  the  Holy  Ghost  So,  any  argument 
against  this  personality  is  based  on  implication,  and  not  on  the  Scrip- 
tures. ;  '  ';    -  .  V  [:    ;£m  >-}s\  ' ■'; 

What  is  this  unpardonable  sin  of  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost  ? 

■  ■■'.  We  are  told  that   Christ  cast  out  devils  and   performed    miracles 
through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost     The  Jews  said  He  did  these 
things  through  the  power  of  the  devil.      Therefore,  Jesus  charged 
them  with  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost — the  unpardonable  sin — 
by  attributing  the  Words  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the  devil. 
■■  ■/;■>:  Does   any   one   commit  that  sin  to-day?  you  ask.     Well,  if  you 
1  attribute  any  of  the  works  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  devil,  you  most 
assuredly  do.    And  I'll  tell  you  of  a  sin  which,  if  not  the  unpardona- 
ble one,  borders  close  upon  it:  .-;..,-*    -V 
■'-..•  Here  is  a  work  of  grace  going  on  in  this  church  and  in  this  com- 
.:  inunity.     There  is  no  undue  excitement ;  there  is  no  attempt  to  get  up 
•excitement     I  don't  believe  in  too  much  excitement  in  this  matter, 

;and  I  don't  preach  on  that  line. ;-  .v  .' 

'■'..,'  Here  are  strong  men  who  have  been,  and  are  being  brought  to  God, 


1 
1 


I 


THE  HOLY   SPIRITT.  37 

through  their  Saviour  Jesust  Christ     What  is  this   deep  repentence 
and  regeneration  ? 

It  is  the  work  ot  the  Holy  Ghost ! 

Now,  you  make  light  of  it  and  say  it  is  all  bosh,  and  that  v.  ill  be  a 
near  approach  to,  if  it  is  not,  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost.  You 
ridicule  it,  if  you  do  not  exactly  attribute  it  to  the  devil. 

Say  what  you  please  against  me,  and  about  these  other  preachers 
here,  if  you  want  to,  and  God  may  forgive  you.  But  don't  speak 
lightly  of  sacred  things.  I  warn  you,  don't  ridicule  or  attribute  to  the 
devil  the  workings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  hearts  of  this  people. 
Don't  you  do  it ! 

2.  What  is  the  relation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the  written  word  of 
God? 

In  II  Timothy,  3:16  we  have  these  words:  "All  scripture  is  given 
by  inspiration  of  God."  Again,  in  II  Peter,  1:21 — "For  the  prophecy 
came  not  in  old  time  by  the  will  of  man  ;  but  holy  men  of  God 
spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 

The  scriptures  were  written  under  the  guidance,  direction  and  tute- 
lage of  God  by  these  men  of  God  through  the  Holy  Ghost.  All  this 
blessed  Book  contains  was  given  us  by  the  inspiration  of  God — and 
a-l-l  means  all ! 

Well,  now,  some  man  out  there  says  there  are  some  things  in  the 
Bible  he  does  not  believe.  You  don't  ?  "No,"  says  he.  "For  instance, 
there's  that  story  about  the  whale  swallowing  Jonah — I  don't  believe 
thaC     You  don't !     Why  ? 

Is  there  anything  unreasonable  about  it — anything  about  it  that  bears 
the  stamp  of  falsity  ?     Is  it  contrary  to  common  sense  ?    Certainly  not 

Now,let's  look  at  it  a  little :  Do  you  believe  in  a  God  at  all  ?  "  Oil, 
yes."  Do  you  believe  that  he  created  all  things  ?  "  Yes."  Do  you 
believe  God  could  make  a  whale?    ''  Yes." 

Well,  if  He  can  make  a  whale  at  all,  couldn't  he  have  made  one  big 
enough  to  swallow  Jonah  or  any  other  man?  Certainly.  Then  the 
only  question  about  this  thing  is  whether  God  can  make  a  whale.  You 
say  he  can.  Well,  that  settles  it.  You  assume  the  whale  was  of  a  given 
size.  That  is  the  trouble.  But  this  whale  was  a  fish  made  to  order, 
so  to  speak,  and  he  swallowed  Jonah.  There  is  no  absurdity  about 
it  at  all.  .     %  %     -  '     , 

If  you  will  read  the  12th  chapter  of  Matthew  you  will  see  that  God 
has  set  his  Divine  seal  upon  the  truthfulness  of  this  "story.'' 

"For  as  Jonah  was  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  whale's  f>elry, 


;s 


THE   GREAT    EVANGELIST. 


I 
I 


so  shall  the  Son  of  man  be  three  days    and  three  nights  in  the  heart  o' 
the  earth." 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  history  and  geography  in  the  Bible.  Take 
the  drunkenness  of  Noah  as  an  example..  That  was  not  inspired  drunk- 
enness, but  an  inspired  record  of  that  drunkenness..  Hence  the  absurd- 
ity of  the  remarks  of  some*  men  concerning'"  the  appearance  of  the  words 
"adultery,;'  "drunkenness,"  "lying,"" Sec.1,. in  the  Bible.   ':^V/:J; - 

God  is  the  author,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  the  recorder  of  the  Bible. 

You  go  up  here'to'your  court  house,  and  look  at  the  docket  of  your 
Superior  Court.  There  you  will  find  a.  record  of  the  cases  to  be  tried — 
murder,  arson,  theft,  adultery,  &c.  Now,  would  you  hold  the  Judge, 
or  the  Solicitor,  or  the  Clerk  responsible  for  the  commission  of  those 
crimes?  Certainly  not.  The  Court  is  only  responsible  for  the  docket's 
being  a  correct  record.     So  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  the  Bible. 

When  you  say  this  Bible  is  not  true,  you  give  the  Holy  Ghost  the 
:    lie.     And  when  you  do  that  God  will  shut  you  up  in  hell,  and  keep 
you  there.     It  is  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  teach  us  God's  word. 
See  John  14:26.  "■■r.,-'\  ■-  ~  /-'- ~  .      . 

3.  What  is  the  relation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  unsaved  sinners?  See 
John  16:8:  "And  when  he  is  come  (that  is,  the  Holy  Ghost)  he  will 
reprove  the  world  of  sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment." 

"Ye  stiff-necked  and  uncircumcised  in  heart  and  ears,  ye  do  always 
resist  the  Holy  Ghost     As  your  fathers  did  so  do  ye." 

Here  is  a  fond  mother  who  has  been  pleading  for  years  with  her 
wayward  son,  but  unmindful  of  her  entreaties  and  her  prayers,  he  con- 
tinues on  his  downward  course  until  she  gives  him  up  in  despair. 
Why?  Because  he  opposes;  because  he  continues  to  oppose  her; 
because  he  rejects  her  advice.  So  it  is  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  He 
opposes  you  on  your  downward  course.  \  He  does  not  want  to  see  you 
goto  hell.  But  you  refuse  to  heed  his  advice,  dictated  by  your 
conscience.  "  "  --  ';:;":V'".,  '•  ";■■';"• 

'  -'." 'Well,  the  Spirit  will  not  always  strive  with  man  (see  Genesis  6:3), 
\.and  I  warn  you  to  be  careful  how  you  refuse  his  advice.     Oh,  when 
••A*" '.the  Spirit  of  God  is  striving  with  you,' I  -implore  you  not  to  refuse  to 
'accept  his  teachings !'  For  if  you  continue  to  oppose  and  resist  him, 
and  continue  to  reject  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  He  will  forsake  you. 
.  - And  then  you  are  lost — eternally  lost!     „■  ■■-,    •      ,,         ...,,*    ■"  \ 
Jv^v'God  the  Father,  andGod  the  Son/have  done  their  part— now,  don't 
A^ drive  the  Holy  Spirit  from  you!  "  There  are  only  three  persons  in  the 
'''f': godhead — the  Father,  Son,. and  Holy  Ghost — and  if  you  resist  the 


■ .■■'■'■'  '  -  .''  ■"•  ' ''  '-.        .  '"41 


THE    HOLY   SPIRIT.  39 

workings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  you   will  lose  your  only  helper,  and  you 
will  surely  be  lost. 

I  know  of  a  case  which  actually  happened  in  Kentucky:  1  here  was 
a  man  who  went  to  church,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  began  to  strive  with 
him.  He  could  have  no  peace.  His  conscience  told  him  to  ask  God's 
forgiveness  and  become  a  Christian,  and  he  resisted  the  promptings  of 
his  heart.  One  day  he  was  so  much  distressed  that  he  saddled  his 
horse  and  rode  down  the  road,  and  the  Spirit  was  striving  within  him 
still.  He  resisted,  and  finally,  raising  himself  up  in  the  stirrups,  he  ■ 
exclaimed:  "I  won't  do  it!"  And  God's  Spirit  left  him  then  and  there 
forever  and  forever.  And  he  said  he  had  hardly  uttered  the  words 
before  he  became  sensible  of  that  fact.  And  to-day  he  feels  that  he  is 
past  redemption,  beyond  all  hope  of  forgiveness.  He  has  never  had  a 
serious  thought  on  the  subject  of  his  soul's  salvation  since. 

Here  is  another  case:  At  an  enquiry  meeting  I  was  holding,  Mrs. 
Pearson  approached  a  young  lady  in  the  audience,  and  she  asked  her 
if  she  did  not  want  to  be  a  Christian.  "No,"  she  said  She  believed 
in  God,  she  believed  the  Bible,  and  all  that,  she  said;  but  still  she  had 
no  desire  to  become  a  Christian.  Well,  Mrs.  Pearson  asked  her  why; 
if  she  had  always  had  such  a  feeling  as  that.  "Oh,  no!"  she  exclaimed, 
"There  ivas  a  time  when  1  felt  that  I  ought  to  accept  Jesus  asm)' 
saviour;  there  was  a  time  when  1  thought  ]  ought  to  become  a  child 
of  God.  But  I  resisted  that  feeling  until  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I 
wouldn't  do  it.  "And,"  she  added  plaintively,  "I  have  had  no  feeling 
on  the  subject  since.     My  heart  is  as  cold  as  that  stone." 

Oh,  my  friends,  the  Spirit  of  God  will  not  always  strive  with  man, 
and  I  beg  you,  I  implore  you  in  God's  name — don't  resist  the  Spirit  if 
it  is  striving  with  you  to-night. 

4.  What  is  the  relation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  believer — -to  the 
regenerated  child  of  God? 

The  relation  is  precisely  the  same  as  the  relation  of  the  Ho!)'  Ghosttb 
the  humanity  of  Christ.  See  Luke  1:35;  John  1:13;  Matthew  3:16; 
Acts  1:5;  Matthew  3:16;  Romans  8:14— "For  as  many  as  are  led  by 
the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons  of  God."  And  let  me  say  right 
here,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  does  not  lead  any  one  to  the  hop,  or  the 
"german,"  or-the  card  party,  or  the  dram  shop.  See,  also,  John  1:33; 
John  14:16;  Luke  4:14;  Acts  1:8. 

Hence  Christ  is  the  son  of  God,  and  so  are  his  believing  children 
his  children.     Live  in  spirit  and  pray  in  spirit. 

5.  What  are  some  of  the  emblems  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ? 


40  THE   GREAT   EVANGELIST. 

Out  there  at  your  graded  school  they  teach  the  children  by  what  is 
called  "object  lessons."  It  is  difficult  for  us  to  grasp  the  idea  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  so  God  has  given  us  object  lessons  that  we  may  learn 
*he  more  readily.  ..  ■ 

See  John,  3:8.  Here  we  have  the  Spirit  in  the  emblem  of  the  wind. 
I  don't  understand,  I  cannot  explain  what  the  wind  is.  Nor  can  I  see 
it.  But  I  can  feel  it,  and  I  know  when  the  wind  blows.  ;■-  ^.":;\:%; 
■  ■.'■  Just  so  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  I  can't  see,  nor  understand,  nor 
explain  it.  But  I  know  I  do  feel  its  influence.  One  is  as  incompre- 
hensible as  the  other.  Say  what  you  please,  though,  when  I  feel  the 
current  on  my  cheek  and  see  the  boughs,  of  a  tree  bend  to  and  fro,  I 
know  the  wind  blows ;  and  when  I  feel  the  influence  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  I  know  the  Spirit  of  God  is  striving  within  me.  .:";  it  ^  ..  i'L 

In  John,  y.38  we  have  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  emblem  of  water. 
Water  !  That  which  we  cannot  live  without;  without  which  our  per- 
sons cannot  be  made  clean.  And  so  the  Spirit  washes  us  with  the 
waters  of  regeneration  which  flow  from  the  throne  of  God. 

I  don't  know  how  water  slakes  my  thirst,  but  I  know  it  deos  slake 
it.  So  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  I  don't  know  the  process  by  which  the 
Spirit  satisfies  our  thirst  for  righteousness,  but  I  know  that  result  is 
accomplished.  :f5..:  k    -    ■-  --     •   ~H&     '■■-■{■■, 

;••  In  Luke,  4:18  we  have  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  emblem  of  oil.  Oil 
that  makes  the  troubled  water  calm ;  oil  that  lights  us  out  of  dark- 
ness— from  the  Chaos  of  infidelity  into  the  bright  light  of  Christianity ; 
from  death  unto  life  ! 

In  Acts,  2:3  we  have  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  emblem  of  fire.  The  fire 
which  makes  everything  hot  like  itself.  Fire  which  is  elevating — the 
flames  and  sparks  fly  upward  ;  the  fire  which  purifies  things.  So  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  making  us  clean,  and  free  from  iniquity,  so  that  when 
these  sparks  of  clay  are  elevated  to  heaven  we  may  be  purified  in  His 

sight  V      '  :'        .'",''  '--: ''-'*■:  -'J'- '  --r':  ':"■"'-''-  -V  •'.""'' 

And  here  in  John,.  1:32  we  have  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  emblem  of 
the  dove— not  an  eagle,  not  a  buzzard,  not  a  bird  of  prey.  But  the 
harmless,  gentle  dove.  Significant  emblem!,  The  timid  dove  !  ...The 
bird  so  easily  frightened  away !'        -'•      ,'  - .  -  ,-'  ■ ,.  ■  <  v  :;•..■ .    y 

'/'  Like  a  dove,  God's  Holy  Spirit  would  move  us  tenderly  to  Christ 
Like  the  dove  the  Holy  Spirit  is  timid,  and  if  you  oppose  and  resist 
this  gentle  Spirit  He  will  wing  his  way  .from, you  forever  and,  like:. the 
city  of  Jerusalem,  you  will  be  left  in  utter  desolation.  jf?J§  '--  '"''■  -T 

If  there  is  one  in  this  house  to-night  with  whom  the  Holy  Spirit  is 


.    :  -  ,..j.k\; ,:>' ■.-■•-! *.--.*  v> r      '-.  ■ 


THE    GLORIES   OF    EARTH    AND    HEAVEN    COMPARED.  4|. 

striving,  let  mebeg  of  you,  not  to  resist,  but  stay  to  the  enquiry  meet- 
ing and  make  your  peace  with  God  this  night !  Don't  oppose  him; 
don't  reject  him-~Oh,  dying  man,  don't  let  the  Spirit  strive  with  you 
in  vain,  until  He  gives  you  up  and  forsakes  you,  and  leaves  you  for- 
ever.    If  He  does  you  are  lost  forever  and  forever ! 

There  were  a  number  of  conversions  at  the  enquiry  meeting. 


THE  GLORIES  OF  EARTH  AND  HEAVEN  COMPARED. 


Another  great  crowd  of  people  assembled  in  Centenary  M.  E.  church 
Monday  night,  October  1st,  to  hear  the  great  evangelist.  The  gas 
machine  which  supplies  light  for  the  church  got  out  of  order  arid  would 
not  work,  but  the  congregation  remained  until  lamps  were  secured 
Mr.  Peason  remarked  on  the  interest  in  the  meetings  thus  manifested 
and  thanked  God  that  it  was  so. 

He  read  the  5th  chapter  of  2nd'  Kings,  and  preached  about  the  cure 
of  Naaman,  the  commander  of  the  Syrian  hosts,  who  was  a  leper. 

I  am  going  to  preach  you  an 'expository  sermon  to-night--  a  lesson, 
a  practical  and  important  lesson,  for  every  careless  and  unconcerned 
man  of  the  world,  and  for  every  child  of  God,  and  for  every  penitent 
sinner  seeking  salvation  !         '■'' 

Naaman  was  a  big  man  in  his  country.  He  was  commander  of  the 
army  of  Syria — a  great  general,  a  nobleman,  a  statesman,  a  man  of 
great  earthly  power.     But  he  was  a  leper  /  ■'■■  >         >. 

I  am  going  to  show  you  that  this  world,  with  all  its  honors  and 
emoluments,  is  nothing  when  compared  to  Eternity.  Some  men  say 
that  religion  may  do  for  the  weak  men  and  women,  v.'ho  have  nothing 
else  in  particular  to  do ;  but  we  business  men,  we  statesmen,  we  great 
politicians,  must  attend  to  our  business  and  to  the  affairs  of  State. 
These  things  arc  of  mote  importance  than  religion  to  us.  1  want  to 
explode  this  common  theory  to-night 

And  Mr.  Pearson  proceeded  to  do  this  in  his  own  reasoning,  argu- 
mentative and  masterly  way.  He  showed  how  all  Naaman's  wealth, 
influence  and  power  could  not  cure  him  of  the  disease  which  com- 
pelled him  to  be  ostracised  and  shut  out  from  association  among  his 
fellow  men;  how  the  lowly  servant  maid  was  the  means  of  influencing 
Naaman  to  seek  a  cure  through  God,  the  only  physician  who  could 


■42  THE    GREAT    EVANGELIST. 

Ileal  him.  He  dwelt  on  Naaman's  hesitation  and  dqubts;  how  he 
wanted  to  know  why  washing  himself  in  the  rivers  Abana  or  Pharpar, 
clear  and  sparkling  streams,  would  not  cure  him  as  well  as  dipping 
seven  times  in  the  muddy  Jordan;  how  he  wanted  to '  dictate  to  God 
the  terms  of  his  cure;  how  he  wanted  to  buy  the  remedy  and  couldn't, 
and  on  what  terms  he  was  finally  healed  ;  and  how  Gchazi  was  smitten 
with  leprosy  for  abusing  his  master's  name  to  Naaman. 

Now,  let  us  take  up  and  consider  some  of  the  big  things  of  this 
world.  Take  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States — the  highest  and 
greatest  and  most  honorable  office  to  which  man  can  attain,  the  acme  of 
human  ambition.  ■■  •  --- 

Suppose  a  man  is  elected  to  that  exalted  office,  as  some  man  will  be 
in  about  six  weeks  hence,  and  he  makes  a  wise  ruler,  his  administra- 
tion becomes  a  brilliant  one,  he  gains  a  world-wide  reputation  as  a 
remarkably  great  man,  and  he  dies,  as  die  he  must.     What  then  ? 

I  go  to  Washington  and  see  a  great  funeral  cortege  moving  down 
Pennsylvania  avenue;  there  is  pomp  and  pageantry  and  brilliant  mili- 
tary display,  and  an  immense  multitude  watch  as  the  procession  goes 
by.  I  enquire  of  some  spectator  what  it  all  means  and  he  says,  "  Why, 
this  is  the  funeral  of  the  greatest  President  that  ever  lived"  And  I 
say,  hold  on  there  until  I  tack  this  card  on  his  coffin :  "  Buf  he  was 
not  a  Christian!" 

What  did  his  brilliant  career  amount  to ;  what  does  all  this  pomp 
and  display  amount  to,  after  all?  He  did  not  serve  his  Maker;  he  died 
without  making  his  peace  with  God,  and  he  went  to  hell  just  as  the 
humblest  unsaved  citizen  of  the  country  he  governed  would  go.  What 
is  the  Presidency  without  God?  I  would  rather  live  in  a  log  cabin 
with  the  bare  necessaries  of  life,  feeling  secure  in  the  love  of  Jesus, 
than  be  President  of  the  greatest  country  in  the  world  and  live  and  die 
without  God  in  the  most  magnificent  palace  the  hands  of  men  could 
erect. 

Well,  this  man  says  he  does  not  want  to  be  President.  He  merely 
wants  to  be  a  successful  politician  and  a  statesman.  All  right.  John 
Randolph,  the  Bald  Eagle  of  Congress,  was  a  successful  politician  and 
a  great  statesman.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the  most  sarcastic  man  in 
Congressional  life,  and  sarcasm  is  always  an  evidence  of  intellect 
-  -.Just  before  John  Randolph  died  he  wrote  "  Remorse !  "  three  times 
;  on  a  card,  stuck  the  card  in  his  vest  pocket  and  died.  I  will  not  say 
that  John  Randolph  died  an  unsaved  sinner,  but  on  the  supposition 
that  he  did,  I  look  at  his  big  funeral  and  say,  "What's  this?" 


THE   GLORIES   OF  EARTH    AND    HEAVES   COMPARED.  43 

Why,  says  one,  this  is  the  funeral  of  the  great  John  Randolph,  of 
Roanoke,  the  Bald  Eagle  of  Congress,  one  of  the  greatest  men  our 
country  has  produced.  Hold  on,  I  say,  until  I  nail  this  to  his  coffin  : 
"  But  he  was  lost!"  What  did  his  popularity,  his  statesmanship,  his 
sarcasm  amount  to,  if  he  died  an  unsaved  sinner? 

Well,  here  is  another  man,  and  he  says  he  only  wants  to  be  a  great 
orator.  All  right.  Take  Gambetta,  of  France,  a  man  who  could  sway 
multitudes  with  his  eloquent  tongue,  as  the  wind  bends  the  reed. 
When  Gambetta  died  he  exclaimed,  "I  am  lost!"  Well,  I  see  the 
great  display  at  his  funeral,  and  they  tell  me  they  are  burying  the  most  . 
eloquent  man  of  his  day,  the  modern  Demosthenes.  And  I  tack  on 
his  coffin  the  fatal  words:  "But  he  was  lost!"  What  did  his  eloquence 
and  what  does  his  fame  amount  to?  What  will  his  silver-tongued 
oratory  amount  to  in  the  great  day  of  judgment?  Nothing!  i\bso- 
lutely  nothing. 

Here  is  another  man,  and  he  says  he  doesn't  want  to  be  president, 
nor  a  statesman,  nor  an  orator.  He  wants  to  be  a  successful  merchant 
and  business  man.  All  right.  A.  T.  Stewart,  of  New  York,  was  a 
successful  merchant  and  business  man,  and  he  died.  They  all  die; 
don't  you  forget  that — they  all  die,  and  you  are  going  to  die  some 
time.  Stewart  was  a  man  who  had  reached  the  pinnacle  of  mercantile 
success.  Suppose  I  see  his  funeral  moving  along  Broadway  and  Fifth 
avenue,  and  they  tell  me  that  they  are  burying  the  merchant  prince  of 
New  York  and  the  United  States.  Well,  I  say  hold  on  until  I  tack 
this  card  to  his  coffin:  "But  he  was  lost!"  What  did  his  earthly  suc- 
cess amount  to?     Nothing! 

Well,  some  man  in  Winston  says,  I  only  want  to  be  the  biggest  and 
most  successful  tobacco  manufacturer  in  North  Carolina.  Well,  you 
become  that,  and  one  day  I  happen  in  Winston  and  see  a  great  crowd 
of  carriages  following  a  hearse,  and  I  ask  what  that  means.  1  hey  tell 
me  that  is  the  funeral  of  our  largest  and  most  successful  tobacco 
manufacturer,  and  1  say,  Was  he  a  Christian?  "No."  Well,  hold  on 
until  I  tack  this  card  to  his  coffin:  "But  he  was  lost.1''  What  did  his 
success  amount  to?  "What  does  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole 
world  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?" 

I  had  rather  be  a  twig  or  a  twist  of  the  tobacco  which  that  man 
made  than  to  be  the  corpse  of  the  unsaved  sinner  in  that  hearse- 
But  it  is  useless  to  argue  the  question  any  further  on  this  line      All 
can  see  that  the  glories  of  earth  are  but  a  bubble  when  compared  with 
the  Glories  of  Eternity,  and  I  will  close  this  feature  with  the  case  of 


44 


THE   GREAT   EVANGELIST. 


"Lazarus.  Read  the  16th  chapter  of  Luke,  beginning  at  the  19th  verse. 
Here  was  a  beggar,  an  outcast  full  of  sores,  which  the  dogs  licked. 
He  was  as  low  down  in  the  social  scale  as  men  generally  get  to  be 
But  he  was  a  child  of  Gqd.:;  '  ■    "  • 

Suppose  I  come  along  and  see, an  old  mule  pulling  a  dilapidated  cart 
with  a  pine  box  in  it,  and  an  old  darkey  acting  as  master  .of  ceremonies, 
taking  the  body  of  Lazarus  to  the  Potter's  Field  to  put  it  in  a  hole  in 
the  ground.  .  And  I  ask  what  that  means.  I  am  told  that  it  is  the 
•corpse' of  a  beggar,  a  pauper,  who  ■  had  no  home  and  no  friends — a 
poor,  poverty-stricken  wretch.  And  I  say,  Hold  on  until  I  tack  this 
.card  to  the  box:  "But  he  was  a  Christian!"  And  he  was  carried  by 
■the  angels 'into  Abraham's  bosom! 

'  What  is  all  your  earthly  wealth'  and  splendor,  compared  to  the  sal- 
vation of  Christ,  which  of  itself  makes  us  spiritual  millionaries  and  joint 
heirs  with  God? 

Some  Christians  seem  to  think  that  they  have  no  influence,  and 
can  do  nothing  toward  bringing  others  to  Jesus.  But  there  are  none 
;so  obscure  that  he  cannot  do  sometJdng  for  his  Maker. 

Take  this  little  servant  maid  as  an  example:  Who  would  have 
thought  that  she  would  be  the  means  of  bringing  the  great  Assyrian 
to  his  God,  by  simply  saying  that  He  could  cure  the  leprosy.  ;  a-' 
'  Because  you  cannot  write  a  book,  or  preach  a  sermon,  is  no  reason 
why  you  should  not  speak  a  word  tor  Jesus  in  season,  and  when  the 
opportunity  presents  itseff.         ;.-:'. 

It  is  not  the  big  sermons,  and  long-winded  dissertations  that  convert 
souls  to  God.     It  is  the  timely  word  more  often.  -     -.  '•■   ..■■".. 

In  a  certain  town  in  the  United  States  there  was  a  pastor,  an  educated 
man,  and  a  fine  speaker,  who  had;  amor g  his  usual  congregatfon  an 
infidel.  He  had  been  preaching  at  that  infidel  for  some  time,  but  to  no 
effect.  'Finally  he  concluded  to  write  a  big  sermon,  and  he  delivered 
it  in  great  oratorical  style,  and  a  few  days  after  he  heard  that  the  infidel 
was  converted  sure  enough.  So  he  went  to  see  the  man,  and  he  asked 
him  what  particular  part  of  his  sermon  had  the  desired  effect  on  him. 
The  new  convert  astonished  him  by  replying  that  no  part  of  his  im- 
mense effort  had  any  effect  on  him  at  all.  And  then  he  told  him  what 
did  bring  about  his  conversion :  As  he  was  going  down  the  church 
steps  an  old  lady  fell,  and  would  have  been  badly  hurt  had  he  not 
caught  her.  She  looked  up  into  the  infidel's  face,  and,  thanking  him, 
said,  "Mister,  do  you  love  Jesus?"  .  ."  7 

That  was  all.     But  those  words,  "Do   I  love  Jesus?"  rang  in  that 


1 


■    •*- 


& 


■     LAYING    UV   RICHES.      ■  /K 

man's  ears  day  and   night,  until   he   finally  was   convinced  that  he  did 
love  Jesus,  and  said  so. 

Oh,  my  friends,  do  you  love  Jesus?  If  you  do,  drop  a  word  here 
and  there  for  him  and  the  great  cause  of  religion.  All  can  do  some- 
thing, -v,      Cf 

We  are  taught  in  this  lesson  that  God  will  permit  no  man  to  dictate 
to  him  the  terms  of  salvation.  No  matter  how  high  and  influential, 
and  powerful  and  rich  you  are,  you  have  got  to  accept  this  religion  on 
God's  terms — the  very  same  terms  which  are  offered  the  lowliest  in 
life — by  grace., 

I  had  a  man  to  say  to  me  once  that  he  would  give  rue  his  check  for 
gio.ooo  if  I  would  make  him  feel  as  happy  as  I  appeared  to  be.  But 
you  can't  buy  the  religion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 

Oh,  dying  man,  accept  God's  terms  and  be  happy!  Don't  try  to 
dictate  to  him,  but  accept  God's  plan  in  God's  way,  and  go  to  heaven. 


LAYING  UP  RICHES. 


i 


-  ;  i  ■  r.         i 

me.  Pearson's  sermon  to 'the.  business  men. 


On  Tuesday  morning  October  2d,  Mr.  Pearson  preached  especially 
to  the  business  men  of  Winston-Salem.  The  capacious  church  build- 
ing was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity  by  both  old  and  young  men, 
representing  the  various  occupations  in  life.  Many  merchants  and 
other  business  men  closed  their  establishments  during  the  service,  in 
order  that  both  themselves  and  their  employees  could  attend. 

Mr.  Pearson  took  his  text  irom  the  6th  chapter  of  Matthew,  ir>  ?■) 
verses : 

"  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon  earth,  where  moth  and 
rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  break  through  and  steal  But  lay 
up  for  yourselves  treasures  in  heaven  where'  neither  moth  nor  rust 
doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  do  not  break  through  nor  steaL  For 
where  your  treasure  is  there  will  your  heart  be  also." 

I  want  to  call  your  special  attention  to  the  1 9th  verse,  wherein  it  is 
said,  "Lay  not  up  treasures  for  yourselves"  Sec,  and  there  are  sev- 
eral observations  which  I  desire  to  make  at  the  outset 


J.6  THE    GREAT    EVANGELIST, 


a 


'  There  is  a  common  idea  prevalent  among  some  people  that  it  is 
sinful  to  be  rich.  This  is  a  very  erroneous  idea.  Some  of  the  best 
men  I  ever  knew  were  rich  men.  Abraham  was  a  wealthy  man,  and 
yet  he  was  the  father  of  faith. 

Some  men  think  there  is  a  good  deal  of  virtue  in  being  poor.  But 
there  is  not.     Some  of  the  worst-men  I  ever  knew  were  poor  men. 

While  wealth  has  its  snares, poverty  also  has  its  peculiar  temptations. 
It  is  not  riches  or  poverty  that  we  should  seek,  but  the  wherewith  to 
be  content. 

And  there  is  an  idea  that  business  must  be  divorced  from  religion. 
It  is  a  great  mistake  for  a  child  of  God,  especially,  to  entertain  such 
an  idea  as  this.  The  idea  that  a  man  cannot  be  both  a  successful  bus- 
iness man  and  a  consistent  Christian  is  a  very  erroneous  and  dangerous 
one.  Combine  business  and  religion.  Don't  go  to  either  extreme,  or 
you  will  have  one  or  the  other  of  these  examples  : 

Here  is  a  man  who  is  all  business  with  no  religion.  He  may  gain 
the  world,  but  he  will  lose  his  soul. 

Here  is  another  man  who  is  all  religion  and  no  business,  and  he  will 
land  in  the  poor-house.  Don't  take  either  extreme,  but  combine  your 
business  and  your  religion. 

If  you  are  a  business  man,  be  one.  Be  a  diligent  business  man,  but 
be  fervent  in  spirit  also.  That  is  the  Bible  idea  of  a  business  man.  Be 
straightforward  in  your  business  and  in  your  religion. 

Take  the  case  of  John  Wannamaker,  of  Philadelphia.  He  is  a  model 
business  man,  and  yet  he  is  one  of  the  most  earnest,  consecrated  Chris- 
tian men  in  the  United  States.  Instead  of  divorcing  your  business 
from  your  religion  you  want  to  bring  them  together. 

You  cannot  properly  conduct  a  business  unless  a  Christian  spirit 
actuates  you,  and  we  cannot  successfully  conduct  spiritual  matters 
without  money. 

'"Are  you  a  successful  businessman?     If  so,  how  did  you  become 
so  ?     God  gave  you  the  talent. 

Are  you  a  successful  preacher?  God  gave  you  that  talent,  and  he 
will  hold  us  responsible  for  the  way  in  which  we  exercise  our  talents. 

It  takes  money  to  build  churches  and  to  carry  on  any  kind  of  gos- 
pel work.  '   ' '  •-  •  ■-^■•^'■■'■■'■'-  ■■'■  /■.'- 

Some  people  have  an  idea  that  it  does  not  require  money  to  run  the 
church.  I  once  heard  of  an  old  lady  who  was  very  proud  of  the  fact 
that  she  had  been  a  Christian  for  15  years  and  it  had  cost  her  only 
15  cents!  v  ^'  ''■:  '  "    ' 


LAYING   UP   RICHES.  4/ 

The  preachers  preach  the  gospel,  and  you  business  men  support  the 
pastors  and  send  money  to  the  heathen. 

God  will  bless  you  for  that.  The  men  who  furnish  the  money  will 
get  their  part  of  the  reward  for  the  good  the  pastor  and  the  missionary 
do  with  it. 

People  are  not  required  to  starve  in  order  to  get  to  heaven 

At  a  camp  meeting  I  was  holding  once,  some  of  my  friends  took  up 
a  collection,  without  my  solicitation,  for  my  benefit.  One  old  fellow 
met  me  and  said :  "  Pearson,  I  didn't  know  you  preached  for  money."  I 
told  him  I  did  not,  but  that  I  could  not  eat  souls,  and  if  I  could  it 
would  take  a  dozen  of  such  as  his  to  make  a  meal. 

Let  us  bring  our  hearts,  our  money,  and  our  religion  and  consecrate 
all  to  God. 

Now,  I  propose  to  show  you  how  you  can  lay  up  treasures  in  heaven 
and  make  money  too. 

Read  the  following  quotations  which  bear  on  this  great  subject : 
Luke,  12:19-21;  Matthew,  19:22;  Matthew,  13:22;  Matthew,  19:23; 
Timothy,  6:9  and  10;  James,  1:11;  Ecclesiastes,  5:10;  Proverbs,  11:4; 
James,  5:1,  2  and  3  ;  Timothy,  6:11. 

"And  I  will  say  to  my  soul,  Soul  thou  hast  much  goods  laid  up  for 
many  years  ;  take  thine  ease,  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry.  But  God  said 
unto  him,  Thou  fool,  this  night  thy  soul  shall  be  required  of  thee,  then 
whose  shall  these  things  be  which  thou  hast  provided?  So  is  he  that 
layeth  up  treasure  for  himself,  and  is  not  rich  toward  God': — Luke, 
$2:19-21. 

What  is  the  danger  taught,  in  this  lesson  ?  That  a  man  in  laying  up 
riches  is  likely  to  forget  God. 

Here  was  a  man,  presumably  a  farmer,  who  was  not  a  bad  man  at 
heart.  But,  mark  you,  all  his  time  was  spend  in  laying  up  riches  for 
himself. 

How  did  he  lose  his  soul  ?  Not  by  getting  rich,  but  because  he 
forgot  God — in  his  forgetfulness  of  God  he  lost  his  soul. 

Some  of  you  are  rich  and  some  of  you  are  trying  to  get  rich.  That 
is  all  right.  But  be  careful  not  to  let  the  accumulation  of  riches  make 
you  forget  God.  Has  it  not  had  that  effect  already,  to  some  extent, 
on  some  of  you  ?  Have  any  of  you  forgotten  your  obligations  to  God  ? 
Well,  let  me  tell  you  that  some  day  while  you  are  forgetting  God,  He 
will  say  :     "Thou  iool,  this  night  thy  soul  shall  be  required  of  thee." 

You  will  not  be  turned  into  hell  because  you  got  rich,  but  because 
you  forgot  God. 


4s 


THB-GKEAT   EVANGELIST. 


"But  wheti  the  young  man  heard  that  saying,  he  went  away  sorrow- 
ful, for  he  had  great  possessions." — Matthew,  19:22. 

Here  was  a  young  man — a  moral,  sober  young  man.  Perhaps  his 
onry  fault  was  the  fact  that  his  mind  was  wholly  wrapped  up  in  his 
riches  and  in  the  accumulation  of  wealth.  And  he  went  away  sorrow- 
ful.    Why  ?     Becauce  his  money  caused  him  to  reject  Christ. 

The  young  men  who  have  all  the  money  they  want  are  the  hardest 
to  convert.  The  pastors  of  New  York  will  tell  you  that  it  is  the  rich 
who  are  the  hardest  to  make  Christians  of.  Why  ?  Because  they 
have  all  in  this  world  they  desire.  Talk  to  those  people  about  self- 
denial  !     It  is  a  gospel  they  do  not  understand. 

And  then  we  see  poor  people  with  the  appetite  for  riches,  and  if  they 
had  them  they  would  gratify  themselves  in  the  same  way  some  of  the 

rich  do. 

It  is  no  harm  to  get  rich  honestly,  if  you  do  not  allow  your  riches 

to  come  between  you  and  Christ. 

This  laying  up  of  riches  for  one's  self  is  calculated  to  choke  the 
scriptures.  See  Matthew  13:22.  The  cares  of  the  world,  and  the 
deceitfulnessof  riches  are  calculated  to  choke  God's  word  in  our  hearts. 

I  have  in  my  mind's  eye  now  a  man,  an  exemplary  Christian  gentle- 
man, who  embarked  in  a  splendid  business,  and  he  finally  became  so 
engrossed  in  his  business  that  he  couldn't  go  to  church,  and  he  drifted 
away  from  God  and  from  God's  people. 

I  talked  with  him,  and  he  told  me  that  he  was  losing  spiritual 
growth — not  because  he  was  successful  and  rich,  but  because  he  allowed 
his  riches  to  choke  the  word  of  God  in  his  heart. 

God  says,  keep  the  Sabbath  day  holy.  By  riding  out  to  your  farm 
on  Sunday,  and  giving  instructions  to  the  hands  about  the  work  for 
the  following  week;  by  going  to  the  post  office  and  opening  your 
business  letters  on  Sunday,  and  spending  the  balance  of  the  day  think- 
ing how  you  will  answer  them— by  such  things  as  these  you  are 
breaking  the  Sabbath  day  and  choking  G8d's  word. 

And  you  are  choking  God's  word  by  self-indulgence  who  have  big 
hot  dinners  on  Sunday,  while  the  poor  cook  is  deprived  of  the  privilege 
of  hearing  the  gospel  preached.  ' 

lam  a  regular  blue-stocking  Presbyterian  in  my  views  on  these 
subjects.  • ;  .......        .  -/-_-.--«> 

There  are  business  men  who  make  it  convenient,  when  they  go  to 

New  York  to  purchase  goods,  to  put  in  Sunday  on  the  road  traveling. 
No  thoroughly  good  Christian  business  man  will  do  it. 


1 


LAYING   UP   RICHES.  try 

And  there  is  this  Sunday  visiting  business.  Young  men  take  Sun- 
day afternoons  to  visit  their  sweethearts.  A  daughter  of  mine  should 
not  receive  her  gendemen  friends  on  Sunday  if  she  never  got  married 

Riches  have  their  temptations,  and  that  is  why,  in  Matthew  19:23,. 
we  are  told  that  it  is  hard  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven. 

Are  you  going  to  lay  up  riches?  Then  let  your  outflow  increase  in 
proportion  to  your  income.  You  cannot  grow  rich  and  shut  up  your 
heart  and  refuse  to  help  the  poor  and  God's  work,  and  be  a  Christian. 

You  ought  to  give  at  least  one-tenth  of  your  income  to  God's  work. 
And  you  ought  to  do  it  because  it  will  keep  your  soul  open,  and  tie- 
cause  a  man  who  honors  God  in  this  way  can  grow  rich  and  maintain 
his  Christian  integrity. 

I  keep  a  bank  that  I  call  God's  bank,  and  once  a  year  1  take  out  the 
money  and  send  it  to  help  build  some  church,  to  buy  tracts  and  liter- 
ature, to  support  some  missionary,  or  to  educate  some  young  man  for 
the  ministry.  After  a  trial,  I  find  that  I  can  live  better  and  happier  on 
the  nine-tenths  than  I  could  on  the  ten-tenths,  and  I  would  not  be 
deprived  of  this  privilege  of  giving  for  anything. 

I  would  as  soon  think  of  putting  my  hand  into  a  man's  pocket  and 
taking  his  money  without  his  knowledge  or  consent  as  to  receive  $100 
and  not  give  $\o  of  it  to  God. 

If  the  church  members  of  this  country  would  give  only  a  small  por- 
tion of  their. incomes  to  the  support  of  the  gospel,  there  would  be  no 
church  mortgages  on  record.  Oh,  how  it  would  lubricate  the  machin- 
ery of  religion! 

Mr.  Pearson  here  took  occasion  to  severely  denounce  church  fairs 
and  festivals.  He  doesn't  believe  in  such  schemes  and  has  no  use  for 
them. 

Another  trouble  about  riches  is  that  they  "drown  men  in  destruction 
and  perdition."     See  I.  Timothy;  6:9  and  IO. 

"But  they  that  will  be  rich,  fall  into  temptation,  and  f-  snare,  and 
into  many  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts,  which  drown  men  in  destruction 
and  perdition.  For  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil,  which 
while  some  coveted  after,  they  have  erred  from  the  faith,  and  pierced 
themselves  through  with  many  sorrows." 

The  man  who  will  make  money,  any  how;  honestly  if  he  can,  but 
means  to  get!  rich  any  way,  had  better  look  out,  for  by  loving  riches 
better  than  he  loves  his  God,  he  will  pierce  his  heart  with  sorrow  and 
drown  his  soul  in  perdition. 


3° 


THE   GREAT    EVANGELIST. 


At  this  juncture  Mr.  Pearson  remarked  on  the  practice  of  betting 
and  condemned  it  in  strong  language. 

It  is  much  better  to  be  satisfied  with  getting  an  honest  living  in  an 
honest  way.  There  may  not  be  so  much  money  in  it,  but  there  is  a 
great  deal  more  heaven. 

The  riches  of  this  earth  fade  away.     See  James  1:11. 

Yes,  you  may  lay  up  riches  here,  but  they  will  fade  away.  I  know 
many  men  who  were  once  wealthy  and  who  are  now  poor.  Are  you 
going  to  lose  your  soul  for  something  that  will  fade  away? 
.  And,  then,  riches  satisfieth  not.  In  Ecclesiastes  5:10,  we  have  these 
words :  "  He  that  loveth  silver  shall  not  be  satisfied  with  silver,  nor  he 
that  loveth  abundance  with  increase;  this  is  also  vanity." 

Riches  cannot  satisfy  your  spiritual  wants,  and  not  always  your 
temporal  desires.  I  heard  of  a  lady  who  paid  $7,000  a  year  for  a  fancy 
cook,  and  she  was  such  a  dyspeptic  that  she  could  only  eat  hoe-cake 
and  drink  milk! 

Vanderbilt  once  said  he  would  give  anything  if  he  could  eat  and 
relish  a  "square  meal,"  and  enjoy  a  good  night's  rest.  Why  the  poor- 
est of  us  have  that! 

Riches  profit  not  in  the  day  of  wrath.     See  Proverbs  11:4. 

Riches  will  not  profit  you  in  the  day  of  wrath,  but  that  day  of  wrath 
is  coming!  Suppose  you  hoard  up  riches  and  meet  God  on  the  day 
of  wrath,  what  will  it  have  profited  you  if  you  have  gained  the  whole 
world  and  lost  your  own  soul? 

Earthly  riches  rust  and  canker  and  eat  your  flesh.  See  James  5:1,  2 
and  3. 

If  you  have  riches  and  do  not  use  them  properly  they  will  rise  up 
against  you  in  the  day  of  judgment. 

Mr.  Pearson  here  took  occasion  to  censure  the  rich  for  paying  poor 
people  less  than  their  services  were  worth.  He  denounced  the  rich 
lady  of  fashion  who  "jews"  the  poor  mantua-rrakers  down  to  the  last 
cent,  and  who  pays  her  domestic  help  barely  pauper  wages,  and  de- 
clared that  her  money  would  canker  and  rise  up  against  her  in  the 
day  of  judgment  •  •      •.-' 

May  God  help  us  to  do  as  we  would  be  done  by! 


I 


.--.  .:.  '"..* 


<  .     .  _..    .,',     ..*.r--  ■'■-. .    .l 


THE   SECOND    COMING    OF    CHRIST.  5  I 

THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST.  ' 


Centenary  M.  E.  church  was  fillled  again  on  Tuesday  night,  October 
2d,  to  hear  the  Great  Reasoner  preach  on  the  Second  Coming  of  Christ- 
Mr.  Pearson  took  his  text  from  John,  14:1-3 — "Let  not  your  heart 
be  troubled ;  ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  me.  In  my  Father's- 
house  are  many  mansions  ;  if  it  were  not  so  I  would  have  told  you.  1 
go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you.  And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for 
you,  I  will  come  again  and  receive  you  unto  myself,  that  where  I  am 
there  ye  may  be  also." 

These  are  the  words  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ — words 
of  consolation  spoken  to  the  children  of  God. 

Jesus  Christ  was  in  the  world  once.  He  suffered  for  our  sins,  was 
crucified  dead  and  buried,  and  arose  from  the  dead  for  our  justification 
and  ascended  unto  heaven.  Now,  this  same  Jesus  will  return  again. 
And  it  is  remarkable  how  these  two  facts  are  linked  together  in  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper. 

So,  I  want  to  talk  to  you  to-night  about  the  second  coming  of  Christ 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  myth  and  fanaticism  and  controversy  about 
this  subject  in  the  minds  of  a  great  many  people. 

Some  people  think  that  it  merely  implies  the  triumphant  death  of 
the  Christian ;  others,  that  the  universal  spreading  of  the  gospel  and 
the  triumph  of  the  church  means  the  second  coming  of  Christ ;  others 
think  that  it  refers  to  the  millennium  and  thai  that,  per  se,  means  the 
second  coming  of  Christ. 

So  far  as  fanaticism  is  concerned,  there  are  cranks  on  both  sides,  and 
the  same  is  true  of  nearly  all  the  doctrines  taught  in  God's  word. 

But  I  don't  care  anything  about  these  controversies.  AH  I  want  to 
know  is  what  the  Bibles  says  on  the  subject.  Let  us  keep  clear  of  all 
theories  and  notions,  and,  taking  the  word  of  God,  see  what  it  teaches 
Lay  aside  dogmas  and  take  God's  word  for  it, 

This  is  a  practical  sermon  that  I  am  going  to  preach  to  you  to-night, 
for  God  has  signally  honored  this  doctrine  in  the  conviction  and  con- 
version of  men  and  by  reclaiming  backsliders.  And  ]  am  going  to  ask 
three  questions : 

1.  How  is  He  coming  the  second  time  ? 

2    Wlien  is  He  coming  ? 

3.   WJiy  is  He  coming  ? 

First,  then  :  How  is  He  coming  ? 


'52 


"THE    GREAT    EVANGELIST. 


•» 


In    1st  Thessaionians   and   1 6th  verse  we  have  these  words  :     "For  ' 

"the  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a  shout,"  &c. 

Now,  I  make  the  point  that  He  is  coming  personally.  What  does 
"himself"  mean?  Does  it  mean  the  death  of  the  Christian,  or  the 
conversion  of  the  world  ?  No  ;  it  means  Jesus  Christ  himself,  and 
that  is  the  way  he  is  coming — personally.  Did  He  not  come  that  way, 
in  the  first  place,  and  toil  and  suffer  and  die  as  a  personality?  The 
Lord  himself  will  descend  from  heaven.  The  same  person  is  going  to 
walk  this  earth  again. 

Listen  to  these  words  from  Acts  i:io  and  u:  "And  while  they 
looked  steadily  toward  heaven  as  he  went  up,  behold,  two  men  stood 
by  them  in  white  apparel  :  which  also  said,  Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why 
stand  ye  gazing  up  into  heaven  ?  This  same  Jesus  which  is  taken  up 
from  you  into  heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye  have  seen 
him  go  into  heaven."  ■  > 

So,  I  make  the  point  that  He  is  coming  bodily.  He  will  come  in 
the  same  manner  He  went  to  heaven,  and  He  went  to  heaven  bodily. 
He  went  with  his  crucified  and  resurrected  body.  And  his  second  com- 
ing doesn't  mean  the  millennium,  or  the  death  of  the  Christian,  or  the 
spread  of  the  gospel  and  the  triumph  of  the  church. 

And  he  will  come  visibly. 

"  Beloved,  he  cometh  with  the  clouds ;  and  every  eye  shall  see  him, 
and  they  also  which  pierced  him,  and  all  kindreds  of  the  earth  shall 
wail  because  of  him." — Revelations,  v.j. 

"  Every  eye  shall  see  him." 

Well,  some  man  says,  How  about  the  dead  ?  What  did  Job  say  ? 
Job  knew  that  he  would  see  him  again,  and  he  said  he  would  be  res- 
surrected  and  behold  him. 

Oh,  that  /  could  have  seen  him  at  Galilee  and  at  the  transfiguration ! 
I  did  not  see  him  then,  but  I  will  see  him.  I  will  see  him,  not  crowned 
with  thorns,  derided  and  spit  upon,  but  I  will  see  him  as  he  appears  in 
a  cloud  of  glory  !  He  who  loves  me  and  died  for  my  justification— 
oh,:I  shall  see  him ! 

And  you  who  profane  and  blaspheme  his  holy  name — you  shall  see 
him,  too.  And  you  will  call  on  the  rocks  and  mountains  to  fall  on 
you  and  hide  you  from  his  penetrating,  all-seeing  eye!  When  the 
great  day  of  wrath  comes,  who  will  be  able  to  stand  ? 

He  will  come  suddenly.  "For  as  the  lightning,  that  lighteneth  out 
of  the  one  part  under  heaven,  shineth  unto  the  other  part  under  heaven, 
so  shall  also  the  Son  of  man  be  in  his  day." — Luke,  17:24. 


THE   SECOND    COMING    OF    CHRIST.  53 

He  will  come  as  suddenly  as  the  lightning,  and  you  had  better  be 
getting  ready  to  meet  him.  You  don't  know  how  soon  you  may  die 
and  meet  him,  nor  how  soon  He  will  return  to  earth  and  meet  you. 

He  will  come  unexpectedly. 

"Therefore,  be  ye  also  ready,  for  in  such  an  hour  as  ye  think  not 
the  Son  of  man  cometh." — Matthew,  24:44 

By  coming  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  He  found  half  the  Foolish 
Virgins  asleep.  So  with  you,  when  He  comes  the  second  time  He  will 
find  half  of  the  church  members  asleep,  I  am  afraid. 

Those  of  you  who  are  ready  and  waiting  and  watching  for  him— • 
those  who  have  their  lamps  trimmed  and  burning,  will  be  taken  with 
him  to  rest,  and  you  slack  and  slothful  church  members  had  better 
look  out 

God  means  something  when  He  says  "watch."  God  means  some- 
thing when  He  says,  Keep  yourself  unspotted  from  the  world. 

Simeon  was  watching,  and  whether  Christ  appears  again  this  cen- 
tury, or  next,  or  next,  there  will  be  somebody  watching  then.  There- 
fore, be  ready  and  watch — watch  because  the  Scriptures  commands 
you  to  watch. 

Now,  as  to  the  second  question :    When  is  he  coming  ? 

If  you  mean  by  "when"  the  exact  time,  1  answer  that  no  man  know- 
eth — not  even  the  angels  in  heaven. 

Some  crank  says  He  cannot  come  before  the  millennium.  Well,  if 
you  can't  say  when  He  will  come,  you  cannot  tell  when  He  will  not  come. 

The  very  fact  that  He  set  no  lime,  and  instructed  us  to  watch  for  bis 
coming,  implies  that  He  may  come  at  any  time.  My  opinion,  based 
on  the  scriptures,  is  that  He  will  come  before  the  millennium. 

Read  the  30th  verse  of  the  12th  chapter  of  Matthew.  Now,  when 
will  be  harvest  time?  It  will  be  when  Christ  comes,  whether  it  be  at 
the  end  of  the  century  or  at  the  end  of  the  world  If  the  "wheat"  and 
the  "tares"  are  to  be  separated  when  He  comes,  it  pressages  that  He 
will  come  before  the  millennium. 

The  20th  chapter  of  Revelations  tells  us  that  the  devil  is  to  be  caught 
and  bound  and  cast  into  a  pit  for  a  thousand  years,  and  at  the  end  of 
that  period  he  is  to  be  turned  loose  again. 

Well,  if  you  are  to  have  a  thousand  years  of  the  millennium  while 
the  devil  is  shut  up,  and  can't  have  any  after  he  is  turned  loose  again, 
how  are  you  going  to  have  any  millennium  before  Christ  comes  and 
binds  the  devil  and  shuts  him  up? 


54  THE   GREAT   EVANGELIST. 

Read  the  nth  chapter  of  Isaiah.  "And  he  shall  smite  the  earth 
with  the  rod  of  his  mouth." 

Christ  will  come  to  introduce  the  millenium,  instead  of  the  millen- 
ium  coming  to  introduce  Christ.  '-    "  - 

We  saw  a  while  ago  in  Revelations  1:7,  that  there  would  be  wailing. 
If  there  is  to  be  a  millenium  of  a  thousand  years  before  Christ  gets 
here,  what  are  the  nations  to  wail  about? 

Oh,  should  He  come  to-night,  would  I  wail  to  see  my  Jesus?  Him 
whom  I  love  better  than  my  own  life?  No.  I  would  shout,  "Glory 
hallelujah!"  Why?  Because  all  my  suffering  would  be  over;  because 
I  would  meet  my  sainted  dead;  because  I  would  be  with  Christ  world 
without  end!     Those  who  are  lost  will  do  the  wailing. 

Because  this  world  will  not  be  saved  by  preaching  is  no  argument 
for  saying  the  gospel  is  a  failure.  I  have  preached  with  all  my 
strength,  but  I  have  not  converted  all  to  whom  I  have  preached.  I 
am  preaching  to  some  to-night  who  will  not  come  to  Christ  and  be 
saved.  The  gospel  is  preached  as  a  witness  that  God  loves  you,  and 
to  prove  that  you  can  be  saved  if  you  will. 

Third  question:    Why  is  He  coming  again?     What  for? 

He  is  coming  to  bind  the  devil,  to  purge  the  church,  to  revolution- 
ize the  world,  to  make  all  things  new.  He  is  coming  to  gather  his 
people  to  himself.  And  our  sainted  dead — He  will  gather  them  to 
himself,  also.  God  will  bring  the  spirits  of  the  just  man,  purified  and 
made  perfect,  and  the  graves  will  be  opened,  and  the  dead  will  arise. 
No  wonder  Paul  called  it,  "Blessed  hope."  We  will  be  changed  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  And  this  old  earth  is  to  be  set  afire,  and  it 
will  melt  with  fervent  heat.  But  He  will  gather  his  living  and  dead 
saints  to  himself  before  He  sets  this  world  on  fire.  If  it  had  not  been 
for  the  good  men  and  women  here,  this  earth  might  have  been  set  on 
fire  long  ago. 

Would  you  perish  in  that  way?  If  not,  trim  your  lamps  and  keep 
them  burning — be  ready  and  watch  for  the  Second  Coming  of  Christ. 

You  have  the  Bible,  read  it;  you  have  the  gospel  preached  to  you, 
heed  it.  For  Christ  is  coming  to  punish  those  who  have  knowledge 
of  him  and  will  not  seek  salvation.  f(  v!  . 

"And  to  you  who  are  troubled,  rest  with  us,  when  the  Lord  Jesus 
shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  with  his  mighty  angels — in  flaming  fire 
taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God,  and  that  obey  not  the 
gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  be  punished  with  everlast- 
ing destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of 
his  power." — II  Thessalonians  1:7  to  9. 


SERMON    TO    THE   YOUNG    MEN.  55 

Punished  with  everlasting  destruction ! 

Yes,  blessed  Jesus  is  coming  again,  bodily  and  in  person — Christ 
who  loved  you  so  well  that  he  let  men  scourge  him,  and  spit  upon 
him,  and  crucify  him,  that  you  might  have  Eternal  Life! 

He  has  sent  men  to  preach  the  gospel  to  you,  and  you  reject  i;.  and 
live  on  in  your  sins.  What  then?  He  is  coming  to  punish  with 
everlasting  destruction  those  who  know  not  God  and  obey  not  the 
gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  Will  you  be  numbered  with  that 
class? 

Oh,  dying  man,  will  you  obey  that  gospel  to-night,  and  seek  him 
while  He  may  be  found.     Will  you  call  upon  him  while  He  is  near? 

God  grant  that  you  may;  and  when  He  comes,  may  we  all  pass  in 
together  to  the  Marriage  Supper! 


SERMON  TO  THE  YOUNG  MEN. 


On  Wednesday  night,  October  3d,  Mr.  Pearson  preached  especially 
to  the  young  men.  He  said  he  wanted  to  hold  out  to  the  young  men 
for  imitation  some  noble  Christian  character,  and  he  had  selected 
Daniel  as  that  character. 

My  heart  goes  out  especially  to  the  young  men,  and  I  want  to  call 
your  attention  to  the  remarkable  character  of  one  of  the  grandest  men. 
that  ever  lived — a  model  statesman,  a  model  politician,  a  model  busi- 
ness man,  and,  withal,  a  model  Christian  of  unflinching  and  uncom- 
promising integrity  and  fidelity. 

Go  to  God's  word  and  examine  into  the  life  of  one  of  the  noblest, 
grandest  men  that  ever  lived — Daniel.  Re^d  the  first  chapter  of 
Daniel,  first  to  ninth  verses. 

In  the  first  place,  Daniel  was  a  Scriptural  young  man.  He  knew 
and  believed  and  obeyed  the  Scriptures,  and  he  modeled  his  character 
after  the  teachings  of  this  Blessed  Word. 

Now,  Nebuchadnezzar,  in  selecting  Daniel  as  one  of  those  to  be 
taught  statecraft,  that  he  might  become  a  politician  and  a  statesman, 
required  that  he  should  study  so  and   so  and  eat  such   and  such  things. 

Daniel  decided  that  he  would  not  defile  himself  by  eating  the  food 
thus  prepared  for  him.     God  had  told  him  that  he,  a  jew,  must  not 


56 


THE    GREAT    EVANGELIST. 


eat  certain  kinds  of  meat,  and  the  question  with  Daniel  was,  "Shall  I 
obey  the  king  of  Babylon  or  the  King  of  Heaven  ?  I  have  got  to  dis- 
obey one  or  the  other.     Now,  which  one  ?     That  is  the  issue." 

And  Daniel  determined  to  obey  the  King  of  Heaven  and  to  do  what 
the  Scriptures  taught  him  to  do.  .  -. 

He  was  told  that  if  he  did  not  obey  the  king  of  Babylon  he  would  be 
beheaded,  that  he  would  be  executed  on  the  block,  and  I  can  imagine 
Daniel  saying:  "Very  well ;  let  them  kill  me  if  they  will.  I  will  lose 
my  head  sooner  than  disobey  my  God  !" 

That  is  the  sort  of  stuff  to  make  young  men  of.  That  is  the  sort  of 
stuff  of  which  heroes  are  made. 

Are  any  of  you  young  men  going  to  be  statesmen?  Are  you  going 
to  do  anything  to  elevate  your  race?  Is  the  world  going  to  be  any 
better  for  you  having  lived  in  it  ?  If  so  you've  got  to  take  your  stand 
on  God's  word,  let  fashion  and  style  say  what  they  may.  Plant  both 
feet  firmly  on  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  and  say,  "  Here  I  stand  or 
fall !  "     Will  you  do  it  ? 

One  of  the  saddest  sights  to  me  is  to  see  so  many  young  men  who 
do  not  read,  study  or  believe  very  much  of  the  Bible. 

God  says  the  Scriptures  will  make  you  wise  in  matters  of  salvation. 
What  if  you  are  wise  in  everything  else,  and  lose  your  soul? 

In  the  119th  Psalm  and  9th  verse  we  have  these  words:  "Where- 
with shall  a  young  man  cleanse  his  way  ?  By  taking  heed  thereto 
according  to  thy  word." 

If  any  of  you  profane  God's  name  (and  I  am  afraid  some  of  you  do — 
most  senseless  and  despicable  practice!),  remember  that  the  Scriptures 
say  you  shall  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord,  thy  God,  in  vain. 

These  same  Scriptures  tell  you  that  no  drunkard,  no  covetous  man, 
no  whoremonger  shall  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

If  you  obey  God's  word  you  will  be  cleansed  from  all  such  sins. 
Oh,  be  like  Daniel— be  a  Scriptural  young  man ! 

Be  careful  in  your  selection  of  associates.  Do  as  Daniel  did,  and 
select  christian  young  men,  who  love  God,  and  have  some  backbone, 
as  your  companions.  Daniel  owed  much  to  his  associations.  There 
is  nothing  more  important  in  your  career,  pertaining  to  your  welfare  in 
this  world  and  the  next,  as  the  character  of  the  young  men  whom  you 
choose  as  your  daily  associates.  "  Birds  of  a  feather  flock  tegether." 
Show  me  the  associates  of  a  man,  arid  I  will  tell  you  the  character  of 
that  man.  ■■::■';--  ;;"_■    •  :-    [•  u       •  ■  ■-;-   ■■...  i-o ';  .  :  J  r-     ,, 

Don't  associate  with  young  men  who  speak  sneeringly  of  pure  wo- 


SERMON    TO    THE    YOUNG    MEN.  57 

men,  or  those  who  make  fun  of  religion  and  speak  lightly  of  the  Bible. 
Daniel  did  not  associate  with  that  class  of  young  men. 

And  when  you  select  a  companion  for  life,  get  a  pure,  good,  christian 
woman,  rather  than  a  fashionable  "society"  one,  if  you  value  your 
future  happiness. 

Read  the  3d  chapter  of  Daniel.  Merc  was  Daniel  refusing  to  wor- 
ship the  golden  image.  He  would  bend  the  knee  to  none  but  God, 
and  all  the  persuasion  of  others  could  not  induce  him  to  go  through 
even  the  form  of  worshipping  the  golden  image. 

Daniel  was  a  man  of  prayer.  See  Daniel  6:10.  He  was  not  afraid 
to  pray,  and  although  he  knew  the  edict  of  the  king  was  signed,  order- 
ing all  to  worship  only  the  golden  image,  he  went  to  an  open  window, 
his  accustomed  place  in  his  room,  and  with  his  face  toward  Jerusalem, 
continued  to  pray  to  his  God.  He  knew  he  would  be  cast  into  the 
lion's  den  if  he  was  discovered,  and  yet  he  made  no  effort  to  conceal 
the  act.     He  wouldn't  even  close  the  blinds. 

He  was  discovered,  the  fact  was  reported  to  the  king,  and  Daniel  was: 
cast  into  the  lion's  den.  Daniel  was  praying  when  they  took  him,  and 
I  can  imagine  him  praying  as  he  laid  his  head  on  the  shaggy  mane  of 
the  lion  and  slept  as  peacefully  as  a  child! 

Daniel  knew  that  his  God  could  protect  him,  and  his  faith  was  so 
strong  that  he  was  satisfied  that  He  would  shield  him  fnc'r.'i  harm. 
And  because  of  this  the  king  acknowledged  Daniel's  God  as  the  only 
true  God.  That  is  the  kind  of  praying  young  men  we  need  to-day. 
Don't  be  ashamed  to  pray,  and  don't  be  afraid  of  ridicule. 

There  was  a  Christian  young  man  attending  a  certain  college,  and  he 
had  a  room  to  himself,  until  a  new  student,  a  godless  young  fellow, 
arrived  one  day.  The  two  got  along  all  right  during  the  day,  arid 
when  the  time  to  retire  arrived  the  Christian  young  man,  as  was  his 
custom,  kneeled  by  the  bedside  and  began  to  pray,  whereupon  the  new 
student  stepped  up  and  stuck  a  pin  into  him.  The  young  man  delib- 
erately arose,  seized  a  chair  and  knocked  his  tormentor  in  the  head 
with  it.  Then,  without  examining  to  see  how  badly  the  young  mar. 
was  hurt,  he  again  kneeled  and  finished  his  prayer. 
•  His  new  room-mate  had  more  respect  for  him  after  that,  and  he  was 
not  troubled  with  pins  again. 

Don't  be  afraid  or  ashamed  to  pray.  And  if  you  are  on  your  knees 
praying  and  some  one  comes  into  the  room,  you  stay  where  you  are 
until  you  finish  your  prayer.  Don't  jump  up  and  blush  and  look  like 
a  man  who  has  been  caught  stealing,  or  doing  some  other  disgraceful  act, 


38 


THE    GREAT    EVANGELIST. 


Some  men  think  they  have  not  time  to  pray.  That  is  a  great  mis- 
"take.  Daniel  had  more  business  than  Cleveland  and  all  his  cabinet  to 
perform,  and  he  found  time  to  pray  three  times  a  day.  And  here  is 
some  ioxi2  corner-grocery  merchant  saying,  he  "hasn't  time"  to  pray. 
That  won't  do. 

Daniel  passed  safely  through  this  ordeal  because  he  believed  in  God. 
There  is  an  ordeal  which  you  will  have  to-  pass  through,  and  if  you 
want  to  go  through  it  successfully  you  must  have  faith.  Don't  rely  so 
much  on  your  brains  or  your  shrewdness.  Rely  on  God,  through  our 
Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ. 

If  you  have  faith,  and  put  your  trust  in  Him,  you  will  come  out 
more  than  conqueror,  Daniel  measured  arms  with  a  king,  and  came 
out  successful. 

Are  you  going  to  be  a  power  in  the  land,  and  take  hold  of  poor, 
fallen,  sin-cursed  humanity  and  lift  it  up?  Then  be  like  Daniel — a 
man  of  taith.  Don't  live  to  be  a  mere  bubble  on  earth.  Be  a  power 
for  good-!  ■-      " 

Daniel  was  taught  of  God.  Had  he  not  been  he  could  not  have 
read  the  hand-writing  on  the  wall.  .        -::.--  , 

Read  this  Bible:  it  will  teach  you  the  way  to  heaven! 

And  Daniel  was  honored  of  God.  How  many  are  there  here  to- 
night who  would  have  turned  to  God  as  Daniel  did  when  ordered  to 
worship  the  golden  image? 

Where  are  the  worldly  young  men  who  obeyed  that  order  and  turned 
their  backs  on  the  only  living  and  true  God?  They  are  covered  with 
the  dust  of  time,  while  the  life  of  Daniel  shines  with  historic  splendor. 

Young  man,  God  has  a  work  for  you  to  do.  Will  you  go  and  per- 
form your  duty?  . ■-:.;■• 

It  is  esteemed  a  great  honor  to  have  a  niche  in  the  capitol  at  Wash- 
ington, and  in  Westminster  Abbey.  But  that  is  not  my  idea  of  glory. 
Oh,  it  is  the  height  of  my  ambition,  and  it  should  be  the  height  of  your 
ambition,  to  find  and  fill,  at  the  end  of  our  earthly  labors,  the  niche  in 
the  Temple  of  that  city  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens! 

If  you  have  not  yet  confessed  Christ,  do  it  this  night  Enlist  your- 
self on  God's  side.  Emulate  the  example  of  Daniel  and  stand  by  his 
side  in  the  great  Day  of  Judgment!  •.;.:      :.  .   .    :      ::r 


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LOOKING    UNTO   JESUS.  59. 

LOOKING  UNTO  JESUS. 


THE  FAREWELL  SERMON  OF  MR.  PEARSOX. 


Mr.  Peason  preached  his  farewell  sermon  Thursday  morning,  Octo- 
ber 4th.     It  was  especially  adapted  to  the  new  converts. 

He  took  his  text  from  Hebrews,  12:2:  "  Looking  unto  Jesus  the 
author  and  finisher  of  our  faith  ;  who,  for  the  joy  that  was  set  before 
him,  endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame,  and  is  set  down  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God." 

I  want  to  talk  especially  to  the  young  converts  to-day.  You  have  a 
joy  set  before  you,  and  to  realize  that  joy  you  want  to  lay  aside  the 
sins  that  possess  you,  and  you  must  not  get  out  of  patienee  or  be  dis- 
couraged if  the  devil  sometimes  gets  the  better  of  you.. 

Now,  what  is  the  best  thing  to  do  to  accomplish  this  object  ?  Look 
to  Jesus. 

What  has  been  your  besetting  sin  ?  Drunkenness  ?  Desecration  of 
the  Sabbath  day?  Neglect  of  God's  word?  Then,  in  order  to  lay  it 
aside  you  must  look  to  Jesus. 

Now,  there  was  the  case  of  Peter.  He  was  all  right  as  long  as  he 
kept  his  eye  on  Jesus,  but  as  soon  as  he  took  his  eye  off  of  Jesus  and 
began  to  look  at  the  boat  and  the  waves  he  began  to  sink  then  and 
there.  And  that  will  be  the  case  with  you  if  you  look  around  and 
meditate  on  the  temptations  that  will  beset  you,  instead  of  keeping 
your  mental  eye  on  Jesus. 

When  we  look  to  Jesus,  what  are  we  looking  for  ?  What  is  it  that 
is  to  be  obtained  ?  What  is  He  to  us — what  is  Jesus  to  the  young 
convert  ?     In  the  first  place,  He  is  our  Redeemer. 

"  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law."— Galatia  is,  3:13. 

Here  Fie  is  held  up  as  our  Redeemer.  Let  us  look  at  him  in  that 
light.  He  will  redeem  the  penitent  from  the  eternal  consequences  of 
sin,  and  from  the  power  of  the  devil. 

There  is  a  mortgage  on  your  soul.  You  are  morally  bankrupt,  and 
you  have  no  resources  to  lift  that  mortgage.  Your  only  salvation  is 
through  the  grace  of  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  is  the  only  one  through 
whose  instrumentality  the  mortgage  can  be  lifted.  Neither  you  nor  I 
can  lift  it — it  must  lifted  by  the  atoning  blood  of  our  Saviour. 

"Sanctify  the  Lord  God  in  your  hearts,  and  be  ready  always  to  give 


«o 


"THE    GREAT    EVANGELIST, 


an  answer  to  every  man  that  asketh  you  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  m 
you,  with  meekness  and  fear." — I  Peter,  3:15. 

Christ  is  the  only  one  in  the  Universe  of  God  that  can  satisfy  divine 
justice.  The  conclusion,  then,  is  irresistable  that  you  must  accept 
Jesus  Christ  as  your  Saviour,  or  die  in  your  sins  a  moral  bankrupt. 
See  Romans,  16:26  and  27. 

Let  me  give  you  an  illustration  :  Here  is  a  young  lady,  a  marriage- 
ble  young  lady.  She  is  heavily  in  debt,  and  can't  pay  the  mortgage 
that  is  held  on  her  property,  and  yet  it  is  evident  that  if  she  does  not 
lift  the  mortgage  she  will  be  a  bankrupt.  A  marriageable  man  comes 
along  and  he  marries  this  young  lady,  and  he  pays  off  the  mortgage 
held  by  a  third  person. 

The  mortgagor  is  thus  satisfied,  the  mortgagee  is  satisfied,  equity  is 
satisfied,  and  the  debt  is  paid  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned,  and 
;yet  the  young  lady  did  not  pay  the  debt.  The  young  man  was  her 
redeemer  in  that  momentary  crisis,  and  she  accepted  him  as  such. 

Now  here  you  are,  a  miserable  sinner.  You  have  violated  God's 
law,  and  there  is  a  mortgage  on  your  soul.  Christ  comes  along  and 
pays  it  off  That  satisfies  God,  but  Christ  is  not  satisfied  unless  you 
accept  him  as  your  Saviour.  When  that  is  done,  God,  justice,  equity, 
and  Christ  are  all  satisfied  and  the  debt  is  paid. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  you  reject  Christ  as  your  Saviour  you  will  be 
cast  into  hell,  there  to  stay  until  the  last  farthing  is  wiped  out — and 
that  will  be  for  all  eternity. 

Do  you  accept  Jesus  os  your  Redeemer  this  morning? 

Read  about  Abraham,  the  Father  of  Faith.  Do  you  know  the  secret 
of  Abraham's  faithfulness  ?  It  was  this  :  Abraham  had  his  eye  fixed 
continually  on  God. 

Don't  look  at  your  surroundings  so  much — look  to  Jesus. 

And  there  was  Moses.  What  was  the  secret  of  Moses'  meekness  ? 
Read  the  7th  chapter  of  Hebrews. 

The  faith  of  Moses  was  so  great  that  he  could  look  beyond  the  skies. 
See  Ihim  on  Mount  Sinai.  See  him  in  the  Promised  Land — he  got 
there  after  death,  thank  God.  Think  of  Moses  at  the  Transfiguration, 
and  imagine  how  happy  he  was  when  he  realized  the  delights  for  which 
he  had  rejected  earthly  honors. 

The  reason  the  world  is  so  attractive  to  you  is  because  you  are  look- 
ing at  the  world  entirely.  You  don't  see  anything  better.  If  you 
would  look  to  Jesus  the  one  object  of  your  life  would  be  to  glorify  God. 


LOOKING    UNTO   JESUS.  6 1 

The  very  best,  and  the  only,  preventive  against  sin  in  this  world,  and 
against  the  allurements  of  the  devil,  is  "Looking  to  Jesus." 

Your  besetting  sin  would  not  be  half  so  attractive  if  you  did  not 
look  at  the  world  so  much.  Look  to  Jesus  when  in  trouble  for  help  ; 
and  when  you  are  prosperous  and  happy,  look  to  Jesus  still,  and  thank 
God  for  his  goodness  to  you. 

Talk  about  sorrow  and  suffering.  You  don't  know  what  sorrow  and 
suffering  is.  Think  of  Job,  who  lost  health,  property,  children,  all  he 
had  in  the  world,  and,  to  cap  the  climax,  whose  wife  told  him  to  "curse 
God  and  die."  Think  of  the  faith  of  Job  under  circumstances  like 
those. 

What  else  is  Jesus  to  us?  He  is  our  Leader.  See  Isaiah,  55:4: 
"  Behold,  I  have  given  him  for  a  witness  to  the  people,  a  leader  and 
commander  to  the  people." 

He  has  given  him  for  a  Leader  to  the  people.  Here  is  a  question 
for  you  young  converts.  You  are  starting  out  on  a  new  life  and  you 
want  a  leader.  The  vital  thing  for  you  to  do  at  the  outset,  is  to  accept 
Christ  as  that  leader. 

Resolve  in  the  beginning  that  whatsoever  the  world  may  do  or  say, 
you  will  accept  Jesus  as  your  leader;  that  you  will  follow  him  in  your 
daily  lives,  and  that  whenever  and  wherever  you  see  the  banner  of 
Christ  raised,  either  in  or  out  of  the  church,  you  will  rally  around  that 
banner  and  stand  by  your  leader. 

Whenever  temptation  besets  you,  look  to  Jesus,  your  leader,  and  fol- 
low him,  and  then  you  will  not  drink  whisky,  or  play  cards,  or  go  to 
the  circus  ts  hear  the  clown  ridicule  the  Bible,  or  talk  about  or  take 
advantage  of  your  neighbor,  or  desecrate  tne  Sabbath  clay,  or  profane 
God's  holy  name. 

Look  for  the  footprints  of  Jesus,  and  follow  in  them! 

You  will  find  them  in  your  poverty-— Christ  was  so  poor  that  he  had 
not  where  to  lay  his  head.  You  will  find  them  all  along  the  Path  of 
Rectitude !  You  will  find  them  all  along  life,  even  to  the  grave.  Yon 
find  the  footprints  of  Jesus  in  the  grave. 

And  when  you  reach  the  heavenly  shore  beyond  the  tomb— you 
will  find  the  footprints  of  Jesus  there  ! 

Follow  him  while  you  live,  look  to  Jesus  when  you  die,  and  when 
you  reach  the  Eternal  City  on  the  other  shore,  the  very  first  thing  your 
eyes  will  fall  upon- will  be  the  Footprints  of  Jesus! 

He  is  the  Leader.  Follow  him,  let  the  consequences  be  what  they 
may,  and  He  will  shield  you  from  harm. 


62 


THE   GREAT    EVANGELIST. 


Jesus  is  also  our  Commander. 

Have  you  been  a  soldier?  If  you  have  you  know  that  a  soldier's 
first  duty  is  to  obey  orders — obedience. 

Then  obey  your  Commander.  Deny  yourself,  take  up  your  cross, 
and  follow  Jesus,  your  Commander,  who  is  your  only  Commander. 

Don't  go  by  what  people  say.  Don't  go  by  what  your  pastor  says, 
even,  if  his  views  conflict  with  the  teachings  of  the  Bible.  Jesus  Christ 
is  your  only  Commander,  and  no  mere  man  has  a  right  to  dictate  to 
you  on  spiritual  subjects.  No  man  has  a  right  to  say  that  it  is  ?iecessary 
that  you  should  be  baptized  in  a  particular  way.  Men  may  differ  in 
their  opinions  on  this  and  other  subjects,  but  none  have  a  right  to  dic- 
tate or  command  you  in  this  or  on  any  other  subject.  Read  the  Bible 
and  Look  to  Jesus,  your  only  Commander.' 

Then  Jesus  is  also  our  Friend.  "There  is  a  friend  that  sticketh 
closer  than  a  brother." — -Prov.  18:24.  -  •'    "  '  ' 

A  Friend  that  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother!  Yes,  Jesus  is  the  best, 
the  truest  Friend  you  have.  He  is  a  Friend  in  need,  a  Friend  indeed — 
in  prosperity  and  adversity;  when  the  world  applauds  and  when  it 
hisses;  in  your  trials  and  sorrows,  Jesus  is  your  Friend.  He  is  an 
earnest,  warm,  true,  unswerving  Friend.  The  friendship  of  man,  even 
the  love  of  your  wife  and  your  mother,  is  as  nothing  when  compared 
to  the  friendship  of  Jesus.  \ 

Christ  is  our  Advocate.  It  is  He  who  will  advocate  our  cause  at 
heaven's  high  court.  Go  into  our  earthly  courts.  The  prisoner  does 
not  plead  his  own  case.  He  employs  an  advocate,  a  lawyer.  So, 
Christ  will  be  the  Christian's  attorney  in  that  court  of  last  resort,  and 
the  devil  will  be  the  opposing  counsel.  And  when  satan  prefers  charges 
against  you,  Christ  will  be  there  to  defend  his  children,  his  friends. 
The  devil  will  be  able  to  make  a  pretty  good  case  against  the  majority 
of  us,  and  he  is  a  cunning  old  devil,  and  he  knows  how  to  argue  his 
side  of  the  question.  He  will  prefer  some  mighty  serious  charges 
against  you. 

If  you  have  been  converted  to  God,  and  accepted  Jesus  as  your 
Savior,  Christ  will  be  there  to  defend  you,  and  to  defend  you  success- 
fully. Jesus  will  admit  the  charges  of  satan,  and  say  that  it  is  true  that 
you  were  once  a  sinner,  but  He  will  make  the  point  that  He  liquidated 
the  debt  on  the  cross,  and  if  you  are  his  friend  He  will  say,  "  Charge  it 
to  me."  "  Get  thee  hence,  satan,"  Christ  will  say.  "  If  you  have  any- 
thing against  my  friend,  my  child,  prefer  your  charges  against  Me!" 
"  I  met  you  in  Winston,  and  I  measured  arms  with  you  there  !" 


LOOKING    UNTO    JESUS.  63 

Christ  is  our  Elder  Brother.  What  a  distinction  to  be  a  brother  of 
Jesus  Christ!  Talk  about  the  "first  families"  of  Virginia  and  the 
"aristocracy"  of  Europe,  and  about  "blue  blood" — I  tell  you  there  is 
a  blood  I  appreciate  more  than  I  do  "blue  blood."  I  don't  know 
whether  I  have  any  blue  blood  in  my  veins  or  not,  and  1  don't  ot  re- 
But  I  do  know  that  I  am  akin  to  Jesus! 

•  I  don't  know  anything  about  the  aristocracy  of  Europe;  but,  thank 
God,  I  belong  to  the  Aristocracy  of  the  Skies.  I  am  the  child  of  a 
King! 

Christ  is  also  our  Judge.  In  Acts  17:31,  we  have  Jesus  represented 
as  our  Judge.  Does  it  not  make  you  tremble — ye  who  have  not  con- 
fessed him;  ye  who  have  trampled  on  his  laws?  He  will  judge  you 
honestly  and  truly. 

I  Oh,  how  I  look  forward  to  that  great  day,  and  rejoice  that  Jesu,s 
will  be  my  judge!  This  same  Jesus  who  is  my  redeemer,  my  leader, 
my  commander,  my  advocate,  my  friend,  my  elder  brother — this  same 
Jesus  will  be  my  Judge! 

Christ  is  our  All,  and  in  All.     See  Collossians  3:1 1. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  talk  about  getting  to  heaven.  Some  people 
seem  to  think  that  if  they  can  get  into  heaven  that  is  all  they  want — 
that  that  is  all  in  alL  Well,  it  depends  altogether  on  circumstances 
whether  I  want  to  go  to  heaven  or  not 

I  I  don't  want  to  go  to  heaven  if  Jesus  is  not  there.  My  purpose  is 
not  so  much  to  get  into  heaven  as  it  is  to  be  with  Christ. 

There  was  an  instance  which  occurred  in  this  State  that  I  will 
relate:  A  man  and  his  wife  had  a  beautiful  little  girl.  The  mother  was 
taken  sick  and  died,  and  after  the  funeral  the  little  child  was  carried 
back  home.  She  ran  into  her  late  mother's  apartments  and  cried, 
"'Mamma!"  No  answer.  She  ran  into  the  parlor, the  dining-room,  and 
into  every  room  in  the  house  calling,  "Mamma!"  And  finally  r>ome  one 
told  her  that  her  mamma  was  gone  and  would  not  come  back  again, 
and  the  poor  little  thing  cried :  "  If  my  mamma  is  not  here  /  don'l 
want  to  stay  here!" 

And  that  is  the  way  I  feel  about  my  Jesus.  Ii  I  should  go  to  heaven 
and  find  that  my  Saviour  was  not  there  I  would  not  want  to  stay  there. 

The  first  thing  that!  shall  do  when  I  walk  up  the  streets  of  the  New 
Jerusalem  will  be  to  ask,  Where  is  my  Jesus  ?  Where  is  my  Re- 
deemer ?  Where  is  my  Leader  ?  Where  is  my  Friend  ?  Where  is 
my  Judge?     Where  is  my  Advocate  ?     Where  is  my    Elder  Brother? 

He  is  my  all  in  all ! 


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00034002720 

FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


